ASTON, Pa.- The William Smith College ice hockey team skated to a 2-2 tie with Neumann in a UCHC contest at IceWorks this evening. The Herons remain undefeated on the season with an overall record of 5-0-2 and a 3-0-2 mark in conference play.
Senior Kiley Fewster and junior Maura Mulligan scored the goals for the Herons while Bek Lucas and Sammy Patrick scored the goals for the Knights. Senior goalie Maggie Salmon made 36 saves in goal for William Smith. Tonight’s game was the third consecutive tie between the Herons and the Knights.
Neumann (5-3-2, 3-1-1) opened the scoring 16 minutes into the first period. Patrick redirected a Jackie Schneider shot from the point past Salmon. The goal came with the Knights on a 5-on-3 power play. Steph Grundy collected the secondary assist on the goal after feeding Schneider at the point
The first period saw chances at both ends of the ice. Sophomore Gina Scibetta rang a shot off the right post with the game’s first major scoring opportunity. Minutes later, Lucas ripped a shot off the cross bar. The Knights finished the opening frame with a slight 13-10 edge in shots on goal.
William Smith came out and dominated the second period from the opening whistle. The Herons outshot Neumann 19-8 in the period. Fewster tied the game 1-1 with her fifth goal of the season. She collected a rebound right on the doorstep and flipped a shot over a sprawling Helen Cooney. First-years Emily Martino and Jules Kennedy<http://hwsathletics.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=13219> were credited with assists on the goal. Eighty-one seconds later, Mulligan gave William Smith a 2-1 lead with her second goal of the season. She fired a one-timer past Cooney from the low slot. Senior Krista Federow collected her team-leading ninth assist with a feed to Mulligan from below the goal line. With the assist, Federow extends her point streak to seven games.
Lucas tied the game at two, 3:19 into the third period with her 13th goal of the season. She broke into the offensive zone on a 2-on-1 with Katelyn Brown. Brown broke up a play at her own blue line, carried the puck down left side, drew the defender and flipped a centering pass to Lucas, who wristed the shot past Salmon.
William Smith had a flurry of chances on an early third period power play but could not put the puck past Cooney. At the opposite end of the sheet, Salmon stood tall playing a major role as the Herons had to kill off four third period penalties.
Kennedy had the best scoring opportunity in the extra session. Her snap shot from the left side appeared to beat Cooney but glanced off the right goal post and the Knights were able to clear the puck.
Cooney made 41 saves in 65 minutes in goal for Neumann. William Smith finished the game with a slight 43-38 edge in shots on goal. The Herons penalty kill came through in the clutch, killing off seven of the Knight’s eight power play opportunities. William Smith was 1-for-4 on the power play.
With the tie, The Herons remain in second place in the UCHC, one point ahead of Neumann. The two teams will be back in action at IceWorks tomorrow. Faceoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.
