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Utica Advances to ECAC West Semi-Finals

By
Janet
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Utica 5, Potsdam 1 – Women’s Hockey Final

Utica, NY (2/22/2013) – The Utica College women’s hockey team will advance to the semifinals of the ECAC Women’s West Conference Tournament for the third time in the last four years after defeating SUNY Potsdam 5-1 Friday night in the conference quarterfinal at the Utica Memorial Auditorium.  Sophomore Louise Steele-Norton (Avondale, PA/Millbrook School) and freshman Morgan Reed (Fort Myers, FL/Cushing Academy) each netted two goals and an assist to pace the Pioneers.

UC will now travel to Plattsburgh next weekend for the league final four.  The Pioneers will either play top seeded and nationally ranked No. 1 Plattsburgh State, or second seeded Elmira College in the semifinals on March 2.  The winner of the Oswego-Neumann quarterfinal, taking place at 2 p.m. Saturday will take the last spot in the semifinals.  If Oswego wins, Utica will play Plattsburgh at 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 2. If Neumann wins, the Pioneers will take on Elmira at 7 p.m. on the 2nd.

Louise Steele-Norton (Avondale, PA/Millbrook School) knocked home a loose puck 10:08 into the first period of play to give the Pioneers an early 1-0 lead.  Nicole Schwartz (Danville, CA/San Jose Sharks) and Morgan Reed (Fort Myers, FL/Cushing Academy) assisted on Utica’s first goal of the evening.  Reed pushed home the Pioneers’ second goal of the night at 13:22 off a swift wrap around that caught Potsdam goalie Jen Conophy out of position.   Vanessa Maines (Boxborough, MA/Boston Jr. Shamrocks) and Nicole Kieffer (Rome, NY/Lysander Lightning) assisted on Reed’s fifth of the year.

The Bears cut the lead in half as Jessica Silveira was able to roof one over Jennifer Hamel (Ithaca, NY/Northwood School)’s shoulder at 5:38 of the second period.  Sally Mooney assisted on Silveira’s power play tally. Less than three minutes later, Steele-Norton regained the two-goal lead with a power play goal of her own.  The forward received a pass from Kieffer and riffled a slapshot into the upper corner of the net for her second of the night.  Junior Megan Myers (Las Vegas, NV/LA Selects) also assisted on the play. Then, with 4:26 left to play in the period, Myers scored a goal of her own as she was able to skate down the left side, cut to the middle and bury the puck in the roof of the net.  Classmate Meredith Tice (Hershey, PA/Washington Pride) assisted on Myers’ team-leading 17th of the season.

Reed tallied her second of the night with just under two and a half minutes to play off assists from Myers and Steele-Norton to ensure the Utica victory.  Jennifer Hamel (Ithaca, NY/Northwood School) made 23 saves in the win, while Conophy had 20 saves for Potsdam.

Bengals Women End Season 1-0 Loss to Potsdam

By
Janet
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0

Jordan Lee (Colorado Springs, CO/Widefield) made 25 saves, but it was not enough as Buffalo State (6-18-1/3-13-0) went 0 for 8 on the power play in a 1-0 loss to Potsdam (10-13-2/6-9-1) in the season finale today at Cheel Arena on the campus of Clarkson University.

The Bears scored the lone goal of the game just 5:14 into the contest.  Potsdam outshot Buffalo State 26-22.  The Bears went 0 for 6 on the power play.

Buffalo State finished its season with just one win in its last 11 games.

RIT Women Drop to #9 Mercyhurst; Second Game Tonight

By
Janet
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MERCYHURST, PA – The No. 9 Mercyhurst women’s hockey team (25-6-1, 16-3-0 CHA) scored three unanswered goals early in the third period to break a scoreless tie and defeat the RIT women’s hockey team (14-14-5, 7-7-5 AHA) 4-1 at the Mercyhurst Ice Center on Friday afternoon.

Christine Bestland scored twice, while Emily Janiga also scored in the opening seven minutes of the period, spoiling an otherwise valiant effort by the Tigers. Jenna Dingledein scored an empty-net goal with 1:04 left and dished out a pair of assists. Valia Higson added three assists.

Tenecia Hiller (Brampton, Ontario/Brampton Thunder) scored RIT’s lone goal on the power-play with 7:54 left in regulation to break the shutout. Hiller was able to slam home a rebound off a scramble in front of the net to get her team-best seventh power-play goal and 13th overall on the season. Ariane Yokoyama (Van Nuys, CA/LA Selects) took a feed from Kristina Moss (Webster, NY/Buffalo Bisons) and fired a shot that was stopped, but Hiller was able to bury the rebound.

RIT was 1-for-6 with the man-advantage, while Mercyhurst was 1-for-3. The Lakers held a 31-21 edge in shots.

In goal, Stephanie Ciampa made 20 saves for the Lakers to improve to 16-1-0 this season. RIT goaltender Ali Binnington(Oakville, Ontario/Mississauga Chiefs) stopped 27-of-30 shots, falling to 9-8-4 in 2012-13.

Bestland gave the Lakers a 1-0 lead just 55 seconds into the third period, as she took a feed from Dingeldein from behind the net in front and slipped a shot past Binnington for her 25th goal of the season.

Janiga made it 2-0 Lakers just over three minutes later, taking a perfect goal-mouth feed from Higson and sliding a shot past Binnington for her 19th goal of the season. Moments later, on a power-play, Higson rocketed a slap shot from the right side that was tipped by Bestland over the glove of Binnington at the 6:46 mark to make it 3-0 Lakers.

Mercyhurst out-shot RIT 8-3 over the opening period, but the Tigers held their own during a scoreless frame.

Morgan Scoyne (Drumbo, Ontario/Stoney Creek Sabres) had a good chance from the slot foiled in the opening minutes, then Kim Schlattman (Stratford, Ontario/Cambridge Fury) had a great chance stopped by Ciampa from point-blank range with 5:50 left in the opening period.

Binnington was called upon to make a couple of good stops over the opening 20 minutes, including one on Bestland from in tight late in the period.

Both teams upped its intensity in the second period, but the two goaltenders and RIT’s right post kept the game scoreless after 40 minutes of play.

Celeste Brown (Great Falls, MT/National Sports Academy) had RIT’s best chance of the period crashing the net on a power-play and redirecting a feed the Ciampa was able to cover.

Mercyhurst had a stretch of over a minute in the second period, where they kept RIT hemmed in its own zone, but Binnington kept the puck out of the net. Later in the period, a Mercyhurst player had Binnington out of position with an open net off a rebound, but the puck hopped over her stick and out of harms way.

With 3:53 left in the period, Gina Buquet looked to have Binnington beat on a 2-on-1 break, but her shot from the slot bounced off the right post and out.

Today’s game was the third of four meetings between the two schools this season. The two teams met way back in the season opening games for both teams on Sept. 28-29, with Mercyhurst welcoming RIT into the Division I era with 6-2 and 7-0 wins at Ritter Arena. Bestland tallied seven points on three goals and four assists that weekend, while Janiga had a hat-trick in the 7-0 win.

The two teams wrap up their season series on Saturday at 2 p.m., also from the Mercyhurst Ice Center.

NU Club Has Perfect Season Going Into NECHL Playoffs

By
Janet
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NU holds Oswego to just 6 shots in way to 5-1 victory and perfect 18-0 league record

 All season the Eagles offense has been their most renowned attribute. However, in the Eagles 5-1 victory over Oswego it was defense.  Niagara would surrender only 6 shots (only three after the first period) on their path to victory. Jon Anderson obtained the win in the net for NU.#19 Niagara finished the regular season in the NECHL with 18-0 and outscored their league opponents 123-32. The perfect record is a league record.

It is said that offense sells tickets and defense wins championships. If this is the case, based on tonights performance, the Eagles have much to look forward to. Freshman Mike Skopinski played his best game of the semester alongside his season long partner freshman Brad Beran.  Sophomore Captain Patrick Ryan made his return after missing several weeks due to injury and played well. Patrick Martin and Max Hyland continue to produce not only offensively but with stout defensive play.

Freshman Jake Ledyard started the scoring for NU tipping a great point shot from Patrick Martin. Senior Marc Deguilio broke the game open with the second goal for NU. Freshman Josh Pietrantonio would score the third marker on a pass from Pat Martin. Pat Martin would net a goal of his own just 30 seconds later. Tim Roggemann would complete NU with the teams’ only goal of the third.

The shutdown defensive dominance of tonights game can also be attributed to the Eagles forwards. Several key back checks mitigated potential odd man rushes, blocked shots, and clogged the neutral zone to frustrate Oswego.

Next up for Niagara will be the NECHL playoffs. Niagara has earned a bye into the semi finals. It is possible they will be play Oswego again on Saturday afternoon at the Northtown Center in Amherst, NY.

“So far this season we have achieved pretty much all the goals we set out to do” said Associate Coach Clay Miller after the game. “But the regular season is just that regular. We have a big target on our backs and I think it is now something our team really takes pride in. Next week’s playoffs is going to be a big test for us. We have two more games to win for the overall title, and those 120 minutes are going to be our toughest all season.”

Niagara Club Seeded #1; Faces Binghamton

By
Janet
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0

In a 4-3 upset the sixth seed Binghamton upset the third seed Syracuse. For their efforts Binghamton will play the first seed NU.

Niagara defeated Binghamton 10-2 and 8-3 respectively in each meeting in the regular season.

“The regular season is over and as soon as that puck drops tomorrow it is a whole new season” said Associate Coach Clay Miller. “Binghamton outplayed us badly for the first 25 minutes last time we played that and that should leave a pretty bad taste with our players. We can’t have a let down. We can look around at other league playoffs and see that all the teams who obtained their leagues autobid didn’t win there leage playoffs. We have to show up ready to play and really take control of the game from the opening puck drop. If we get outplayed like we did down in Binghamton two weeks ago, it will be a lot tougher to get ourselves out of it.”

Faceoff is at 5pm at the Northtown Center. The winner of tomorrows contest will take on the winner of the Buffalo/Oswego game in the NECHL Championship.

Canisius Falls to Robert Morris; Second Game Tonight in PA

By
Janet
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0

The Canisius College hockey team lost to Robert Morris, 4-2, on Friday night at the Buffalo State Sports Arena. The Griffs are now 11-17-5 on the season and 10-12-2 in Atlantic Hockey play, while the Colonials improve to 17-12-2 and 12-11-1 against league foes.

 

“For a large part of the game, we were very good tonight,” said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. “We need to increase our level of play, though, throughout the entire contest and compete for a complete 60 minutes. We need to find a way to bring it long enough tomorrow and get two points at their place.”

 

Senior captain Preston Shupe (Weyburn, Saskatchewan) tallied both of the Griffs goals in the loss.

 

The Colonials grabbed the early advantage in the game, scoring at the 15:03 mark of the first frame. Greg Gibson knocked in a loose puck in front of the net after Matt Cope made a move to get past a Canisius defender.

 

The Griffs tied the game at one when Shupe scored a short-handed goal 7:08 into the second stanza. Senior Torrey Lindsay (Grosse Isle, Manitoba) knocked the puck out of the Canisius zone and to center ice. Shupe then took the puck from there and skated in on a breakaway before sliding it past the Robert Morris netminder for his 12th tally of the season.

 

Robert Morris, however, would respond with two goals 53 seconds apart to take control of the contest. Scott Jacklin gave the Colonials the lead with 7:47 remaining in the second, finding the back of the net on a 2-on-1. Zach Hervato then stretched the Robert Morris advantage to two with 6:54 left in the period. A Canisius defender attempted to start a break from behind the goal but after bringing it out right in front of his own net, Hervato swatted the puck in for the 3-1 lead.

 

The Colonials then extended their lead to three when Cody Wydo scored a short-handed goal, forcing a turnover at center ice and finishing 1-on-1 for 4-1 advantage.

 

Shupe added one final tally with 1:13 remaining, deflecting the puck in from close range with assists to freshman Stephen Miller (Boxborough, Mass.) and sophomore Tyler Wiseman (Burlington, Ontario), but it proved to be too late as Robert Morris earned the 4-2 win.

 

Canisius finished the game with a 43-35 advantage in shots with both teams going 0-for-2 on the power play.

 

Eric Levine recorded 41 saves in the win for Robert Morris, while junior Tony Capobianco (Mississauga, Ontario) and sophomore Keegan Asmundson (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) combined to make 31 saves for Canisius.

 

The schools are set to complete the season series tomorrow night in Pittsburgh. Game time is set for 7:05 p.m.

Utica Defeats Potsdam in ECAC Quarters

By
Janet
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0

UTICA, N.Y.—Fourth-seeded Utica College (16-8-1) defeated the fifth-seeded
SUNY Potsdam women’s hockey team (10-14-2) 5-1 in the ECAC West
Quarterfinals at the Utica Memorial Auditorium on Friday night. Louise
Steele-Norton and Morgan Reed each recorded two goals and an assist to
lead the Pioneers, while junior forward Jessica Silveira (Brampton,
Ontario/Brampton Thunder) scored a power-play goal for the Bears.

About two minutes into the contest the game was delayed by a scoreboard
outage. After the game resumed, Steele-Norton scored on the rebound after
a scramble in front for a 1-0 Utica lead at the 10:08 mark. Reed struck
just over three minutes later with a wrap-around attempt. Potsdam outshot
the Pioneers 6-5 in the first period.

At the 5:38 mark of the second period, Silveira roofed the rebound on a
chance in front of the net to close the gap to 2-1. Freshman forward Sally
Mooney (New Albany, Ohio/Wyoming Seminary) assisted on the goal. As the
momentum seemed to shift in the Bears favor, Steele-Norton struck again,
scoring on a blast from the right point on the power play. At 15:34, Megan
Myers scored on a breakaway, tucking puck just between the crossbar and
right shoulder for senior goalie Jen Conophy (Glenmont, N.Y./Albany Ice
Cats). Potsdam had several strong scoring opportunities, but Hamel was
able to make timely saves and the Pioneer defense cleared the rebounds.
Despite the Utica goals, Conophy was especially sharp in the middle
stanza. The senior easily handled three other breakaway opportunities.

The teams traded penalties throughout the period. On Utica’s final power
play, Reed tapped home the end of a pretty passing play to cap the scoring
at 5-1.

Conophy, the Bears all-time wins leader, finished her career with 20
saves. Pioneer goalie Jennifer Hamel earned her 10th victory of the season
with 23 saves. Utica was 2-5 on the man-advantage and Potsdam was 1-5.

The contest marked the end of careers of Bears seniors Conophy, Katie
Komsa (Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario/Sault Ste. Marie AA Midget), Brittany
Westlake (Georgetown, Ontario/Brampton Thunder) and Nadine Cunningham
(Bow, N.H./St. Mark’s Prep).

NU Extends UnBeaten Streak to 20!

By
Janet
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0

NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – In the seniors’ final regular season home game of the 2012-13 campaign, the No. 15 Niagara hockey team dropped the Mercyhurst Lakers, 4-2, in front of a sellout crowd at Dwyer Arena on Friday evening.

After honoring the six graduating Purple Eagles before puck drop, four straight tallies over 40 minutes of play pushed the Purple Eagles to a 20-6-5 overall mark, and a 19-3-2 Atlantic Hockey record.

“When you’re playing in your pod, and the rivalries we’ve created with teams like Mercyhurst, Robert Morris and Canisius, we need to be ready and I think for the most part our guys have responded,” head coach David Burkholder said.  “The first two periods I was very pleased with our team.  I think we just need to play better for 60 minutes.  I thought for 40 minutes we executed everything we wanted to do.  We got pucks deep and on net, I thought we finished all our checks, but the little details that will win you championships can’t be turned on and off.”

Four seniors pocketed a point in the win, with Jason Beattie leading the way with his fourth career two-point night (1-1-2).  Dan Weiss and Giancarlo Iuorio each scored, while Marc Marc Zanette contributed a helper.  Rookie Hugo Turcotte also added a score on the night.

The victory over Mercyhurst (14-14-3; 12-10-2 AHA) also extended Niagara’s current home ice unbeaten streak to 20 games, two shy of the program record of 22 achieved between Feb. 11, 2006 and Nov. 17, 2007.

“We’re creeping up on the 22 game unbeaten streak which was fifth best ever,” Burkholder added.  “Dan, Jason and Giancarlo each had a big goal tonight.  We’re going to go as far as our seniors will take us and they were terrific.  Overall the team has been working really hard Monday through Thursday.  We have this four game segment that we have a lot to play for.  The team is just focused and take it day to day.  They are very professional in that regard.”

It didn’t take long for the Purple Eagles to get on the board as Turcotte netted his fourth goal of the season at the 18:16 mark of the first period to put Niagara up 1-0.  Patrick Divjak started the play behind the Mercyhurst net, finding Beattie in the right faceoff circle who saw his shot tipped in by Turcotte underneath the pads of Mercyhurst goaltender Max Strang.

Iuorio gave Niagara a two-goal cushion heading into the first intermission with his fifth goal in three games.  Iuorio picked up a cleared puck by Zanette near the Laker bench, and skated in on Strang for the partial breakaway, slipping a low shot, stick-side for his team-leading 17th goal of the year.

The Lakers saw their deficit increase in the second 20 minutes of play as the Purple Eagles received scores from Weiss and Beattie.  Weiss was the first to get on board in the frame.  Sam Alfieri pushed the puck out to Weiss along the left boards and the captain ripped a low shot from the top of the faceoff circle for his third tally of the year.

About four minutes later, Beattie’s slap shot from just inside the blueline was deflected off the skate of a Mercyhurst defenseman behind Strang for the captain’s first goal of the season, and fifth of his career.

Mercyhurst came out strong in the final period of play, outshooting Niagara 14-7 and netting a pair of goals from Daniel O’Donoghue and Ryan Misiak in the opening 10 minutes of play.  However the Lakers could not complete the comeback as the strong play of NU goaltender Carsen Chubak and the Purple Eagle defense buckled down to solidify the victory.

Chubak finished the game with 31 saves to improve his record to 20-4-5.

The Purple Eagles head to the Mercyhurst Ice Center tomorrow for the second game of the weekend series.  The puck is scheduled to drop at 7:05 p.m.

Goulakos Nets Gamewinner; Seniors Honored Tonight

By
Janet
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0

 

HAMILTON – Sophomore Spiro Goulakos played in front of the Colgate home crowd for the first time since his Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnosis and scored the gamewinner in a 4-1 emotional win against 20th-ranked Union on Friday night at Starr rink.

 

Head coach Don Vaughan said the goal gave the team a big lift and helped carry them the rest of the game.

 

“It was unbelievable,” said Vaughan. “We have all had a lift with him coming back and being able to play. It’s an incredible story and we hope he continues to feel well and we will see how it goes, but right now he looks like he hasn’t missed a step and his is a real inspiration.”

 

Colgate (14-13-4, 6-10-4 ECAC) got great crowd support tonight and the Raiders and Goulakos gave them a reason to cheer.

 

“The crowd support was sensational tonight,” Vaughan mentioned. “The team did a great job trying to build up awareness for the Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and Leukemia Society. Our student body really responded with great support and I wanted to give a shout out to them tonight.”

 

Goulakos was also appreciative of the support by the student body tonight and the last couple weeks.

 

“The crowd support was amazing,” said Goulakos. “Just being at school the last couple of the weeks I have had a lot of support from everyone here at Colgate. The team has been especially supportive and everything little thing like that helps.”

 

Eric Mihalik put forth a great effort tonight in net with 36 saves, which was a season-high for the netminder, who earned his first start since Sacred Heart on Jan. 7. He was stellar between the pipes all night and made double-digit stops in the first and final periods.

 

“I am really happy for Eric,” Vaughn said. “It hasn’t been easy for him. He comes in after not starting for a long time and it’s a testament to him and how hard he has worked to stick with it and continue to be sharp in practice. He knew his opportunity would come and it did.”

 

Robbie Bourdon and Thomas Larkin led the way with two points apiece with Bourdon tallying a goal and an assist, while Larkin added two helpers. Tylor Spink netted his team-leading 12th goal of the season and Kurtis Bartliff got in the scoring column with his eighth of the year.

 

“It’s great to get a win against a great team like Union,” Vaughan said. “We need every point we can muster at this point and we got to come out and do it all over again tomorrow night.”

 

The Raiders took the quick early lead with Bartliff scoring three minutes into the game with assists to Larkin and John Lidgett. Larkin broke up a Union play behind the net and got the puck to Lidgett, who slid the biscuit to Bartliff and he jammed it past Grosenick for the 1-0 advantage.

 

Union (15-11-5, 8-7-4 ECAC) answered four minutes later to tie the game at 1-1 on its first power play chance of the contest. Wayne Simpson settled the puck in the offensive end and shoveled a cross-ice pass to Shayne Gostisbehere and the defensemen fired a sniper shot from the right point that beat Mihalik on the glove side. The puck hit the crossbar and went in as Gostisbehere couldn’t have put his shot in a better spot.

 

The Raiders did have a chance on the power play late in the period, but couldn’t get a shot on net. Mihalik was able to keep the game tied in the final minute with three big stops as Union outshot the Raiders, 14-7, in the opening frame.

 

Goulakos then gave the Raiders the lead and an emotional lift with his first goal since returning to the ice last weekend to make it 2-1. Bourdon won an offensive zone faceoff back to Ryan Johnston, who slid the puck over to Goulakos in the high slot. He then connected on a blistering slap shot that went top shelf on Grosenick, who made 28 stops in the loss.

 

The Raiders received some insurance on a nice rebound tally from Tylor Spink on the power play to increase the lead to 3-1. Mike Borkowski worked the puck over to Price at the mid-point and he fired a shot that Grosenick kicked aside, but Tylor Spink was there for a shot from a sharp angle for his team-leading sixth goal with the man advantage.

 

The Dutchmen tried furiously in the final minutes to get to within one, which included a lengthy 6-on-4 power play with the goalie pulled. However, Mihalik was up to the task and made three stops in front of the net on multiple rebound tries from Union to keep it a two-goal lead.

 

Bourdon put the game away with an empty-net with 38 seconds remaining to give Coglate the huge 4-1 win and it stopped a four-game skid.

 

“We looked a little tentative at the start,” Vaughan said. “That is a result of how things have gone for us recently. We haven’t had a lot of puck luck. We stuck with it and got better as the game went on and clearly the third period was our best period.”

 

Colgate held the top-scoring power play unit to just one goal on four chances, while the Raiders were 1-for-5 with the extra man. The Dutchmen won the shot battle by a 36-32 margin.

 

The final regular season home game will be tomorrow night as Rensselaer comes to Hamilton for a 7 p.m. faceoff on Senior Night.

Cornell Women Take RPI 4-1; Regular Season Ends Tonight

By
Janet
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0

TROY, N.Y. – After not scoring a goal in 65 minutes last weekend against Dartmouth, the Big Red women’s hockey team made up for it with a four-goal showing and a win on Friday night.

No. 3 Cornell scored two times on the power play in a commanding second period, got an even-strength goal in the first period by Hayleigh Cudmore and anAlyssa Gagliardi empty-netter to claim a 4-1 victory over Rensselaer at Houston Field House.

The Big Red (22-5-1, 17-3-1 ECAC Hockey) got more good news on Friday night as Harvard and St. Lawrence tied 2-2 in Cambridge, Mass. The Big Red gained a point on the Crimson, and now it only needs to win tomorrow and a Harvard tie in one of its last two games of the season to potentially win the ECAC Hockey regular season title for the fourth consecutive year.

The Engineers (10-19-4, 8-11-2), who had locked up the No. 7 seed in the ECAC Hockey Tournament before the night began, may see Cornell again next weekend at Lynah Rink for their first round best-of-three series if Cornell does not get the help it needs from Harvard. Cornell and Rensselaer could potentially play each other four times in eight days.

“Rivalries are always fun in hockey,” said Cudmore, who also had an assist in the game. “If you can play a team before you have to play them in the playoffs, that’s just fun. That adds fuel to the fire.”

Lauren Slebodnick was terrific in net, turning away 24 of the 25 shots she faced to earn her 19th win of the season. She was a Big part of the penalty kill unit, making 11 saves on the kill alone and 10 in the third period.

Cornell got on the board toward the end of the first period after nearly scoring on multiple occasions before that. Cudmore picked up the goal thanks to a traffic jam in front.

At the start of the play, Emily Fulton brought the puck from behind the net through the crease but was unable to get a shot off as sticks and bodies were in the way. Rensselaer goalie Kelly O’Brien went down to cover the puck in the crease, but multiple players were in front of her and the puck squirted free into the slot before she could get on top of it. That’s where Cudmore was waiting, and she fired high over the prone O’Brien to give Cornell a 1-0 advantage. Jessica Campbellearned the secondary assist on the goal, giving her 30 assists in her career.

“I’m not a defenseman always known for being down there,” Cudmore said. “But I saw a major pileup and not a lot of people facing out from the net. “I thought, “Here’s an opportunity to go down low, and I was lucky enough to have the puck squirt out to me.”

Cornell really got going in the second period, a dominating 20 minutes that saw it outshoot the Engineers 22-3. Part of that huge margin in shots on goal came thanks to two Big Red power plays. Entering the game with just a 16.5 percent success rate with the man advantage, Cornell scored on consecutive power plays to extend the lead to 3-0.

With Mariana Walsh in the box for holding midway through the period, Cornell saw fine skating from senior defenseman Lauriane Rougeau result in its second goal of the night. Taking a pass at the left half boards from Cudmore, Rougeau skated around the outside of the faceoff circle, cut in toward the net and beat O’Brien five hole.

With 1:30 left in the frame, Madison Marzario went committed a tripping penalty, giving Cornell the opportunity to convert on the power play again. With just 1.6 seconds left in the period, a persistent shooting effort paid off. Alyssa Gagliardi had the puck in the high slot, and she attempted a spinning backward shot that O’Brien stopped with her pads. The rebound when out to Jessica Campbell, whose shot was also saved by O’Brien. But Campbell’s rebound went farther to the right for Emily Fulton, and she converted through O’Brien’s legs to make it a 3-0 advantage just before the period came to a close.

“It’s always nice when special teams are on,” Cudmore said. “I think both our PK and PP were good tonight. It’s really nice to see the power play back on track heading into the playoffs soon.”

The third period saw three consecutive penalties taken by the Big Red, and the Engineers finally converted on the third. A shot taken by Jordan Smelker rebounded off Slebodnick to Mari Mankey, and her second shot went off Slebodnick and into the back of the net.

That set up a frantic final two minutes where Cornell – again on the penalty kill – faced a six-on-four as Rensselaer pulled O’Brien. Multiple close chances came for the Engineers, but Cornell held firm and got a three-quarter ice goal from Gagliardi with just 0.4 seconds showing on the final clock.

Friday night was the team’s 11th consecutive victory over the Engineers and moved Cornell to 10-1 against New York state teams in 2012-13. Cornell is also on a four-game unbeaten streak.

The Big Red closes out its regular season on Saturday when it faces Union at 4 p.m.

Gjurich Heading to U of Maine

By
Janet
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0

(Amherst, NY) – The Buffalo Jr. Sabres are pleased to announce that forward Tyler Gjurich, who earlier this week became only the second player in franchise history to score 50 goals, has committed to the University of Maine and will join the NCAA Division I program beginning next academic year.

“They’ve been interested for a pretty long time,” said Gjurich. “Once they came and offered me to go, you can’t really turn down going to Maine!  I was really excited.”

“Tyler has earned this wonderful opportunity,” added Jr. Sabres head coach and general manager Michael Peca.  “He has committed himself this season to round out his game and compliment his incredible offensive instincts. In all my years of hockey I haven’t seen many players that shoot the puck as well as he does. Maine is getting one heck of a player.”

Gjurich, who resides in Hatfield, Pennsylvania but previously played midget level hockey for the Buffalo Regals organization, is the Ontario Junior Hockey League’s leading goal scorer.  Gjurich has scored 52 goals so far this regular season with one game left to play.  On February 17 he netted his 50th and 51st goals and became only the second player in the history of the junior franchise to clear the 50-goal mark.  The only other person to do it was Brian Gionta, now captain of the Montreal Canadiens, who scored 57 times for what was then known as the Niagara Scenics in the 1996-97 season.

Gjurich becomes the seventh player on the current roster to commit to an NCAA hockey program.  He has not yet decided on an academic major.

Snowbelt J.A. Memorial Tournament Sessions Announced

By
Janet
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0

John Abbott Memorial (JAM) Tournament
March 1-3, 2013

Schedules will be released this weekend
2013 JAM tournament Rules
SQUIRT Division:

  • Squirts @ Center State: Auburn Blue, Center State, Ithaca 1, Midstate, Skaneateles 2, Valley Blue
  • Squirts @ Cortland: Auburn Red, Cortland, Geneva, Mohawk Valley
  • Squirts @ Fulton: Binghamton Blue, Camillus 1, Camillus 2, Fulton, Lysander
  • Squirts @ Thousand Island (1): Binghamton Red, Elmira Red, Oswego 2, Skaneateles 1, Thousand Islands Red
  • Squirts @ Thousand Island (2): Elmira Blue, Onondaga, Oswego 1, Thousand Islands Blue
  • Squirts @ Whitestown: Ithaca 2, Valley Red, Watertown, Whitestown

PEEWEE Division:

  • PeeWees @ Camillus: Auburn, Binghamton, Camillus 1, Camillus 2, Elmira Red, Thousand Islands
  • PeeWees @ Cortland: Alexandria Bay, Cortland, Elmira Blue, Ithaca 3, Onondaga
  • PeeWees @ Fulton: Fulton, Ithaca 1, Oswego, Watertown
  • PeeWees @ Skaneateles: Lysander, Salmon River, Skaneateles, Valley
  • PeeWees @ Whitestown: Geneva, Ithaca 2, Midstate, Whitestown

BANTAM Division:

  • Bantams @ Center State: Auburn, Center State, Geneva, Lysander 2, Oswego, Valley
  • Bantams @ Ithaca: Binghamton Red, Camillus, Fulton, Ithaca Red, Salmon River
  • Bantams @ Onondaga: Binghamton Blue, Ithaca Blue, Lysander 1, Onondaga, Rome, Skaneateles

MIDGET Division:

  • Midgets @ Elmira: Camillus 1, Camillus 2, Elmira, Salmon River, Skaneateles
  • Midgets @ Onondaga: Auburn, Binghamton, Ithaca, Mohawk Valley, Onondaga, Oswego

Conophy, Nelson send Bears back to ECAC West Playoffs

By
Janet
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0

POTSDAM, N.Y.—The SUNY Potsdam women’s hockey team (10-13-2, 6-9-1 ECAC
West) needed a victory over Buffalo State (6-18-1, 3-13) to return to the
ECAC West Tournament and senior goaltender Jen Conophy (Glenmont,
N.Y./Albany Ice Cats) and freshman forward Sarah Nelson (Highlands Ranch,
Colo./Colorado Selects) came through with clutch performances. Conophy
shone the brightest on Senior Day, stopping all 22 shots she faced for her
second career shutout. Nelson scored the only goal the Bears needed for
the win.

Potsdam looked strong early, testing Bengals junior goalie Jordan Lee
(Colorado Springs, Colo./University of Southern Maine). Nelson struck at
the 5:14 mark, slamming home her own rebound for the decisive tally.
Senior captain Katie Komsa (Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario/Sault Ste. Marie AA
Midget) and freshman forward Rachel Grefke (Livonia, Mich./Victory Honda)
recorded the assists. The teams spent much of the rest of the period on
the power play or killing them. The Bears were 0-3 on the man advantage
and needed a few big saves from Conophy to keep the Bengals from a
shorthanded goal. Buffalo State was 0-2 on the power play. The shots were
13-12 in favor of the hosts after 20 minutes.

Potsdam had to kill of three power plays in the second period, including a
59-second five-on-three situation at the 13:09 mark. However, Buffalo
State couldn’t crack the Bears’ defense or Conophy. The Bengals outshot
Potsdam 7-3 in the second period.

There were six power plays evenly divided in the third period, but the
drama built toward the last few minutes. Both teams had strong scoring
opportunities, but couldn’t solve Conophy or Lee. With 2:56 remaining,
Bears junior forward Jessica Silveira (Brampton, Ontario/Brampton Thunder)
swooped in front of the net and backhanded a shot that looked like a sure
goal. Lee slid across the crease and pinned the puck between her glove and
left pad to rob Silveira of an insurance tally. Potsdam was whistled for
an interference penalty with 1:20 left and Buffalo State pulled Lee for an
extra attacker. With less than minute left, Bengals senior forward Tara
Boliard (Canton, Mich./Little Caesars) sent a pass from the right corner
to the point. No one was there and puck slid the length of the ice and
clanged off the Bengals’ goalpost, nearly doubling the Bears’ lead.
Conophy made several more saves as Buffalo State swarmed the net and
Potsdam was able to run out the clock.

Lee finished with 25 saves for the Bengals. Buffalo State was 0-8 on the
power play and the Bears went 0-6.

The victory extends the careers of Potsdam seniors Conophy, Komsa,
Brittany Westlake (Georgetown, Ontario/Brampton Thunder) and Nadine
Cunningham (Bow, N.H./St. Mark’s Prep), who were honored in a pregame
ceremony. The four have combined to play in 322 games for the Bears.

With the victory, Potsdam leapfrogs both Cortland and Neumann into the
fifth playoff spot. The Bears will travel to fourth-seeded Utica College
next Saturday, Feb. 23, for the first round of the ECAC West Playoffs.
Potsdam tied Utica 1-1 on the road on Jan. 12, before falling 2-0 at Cheel
on Jan. 13. The Bears have now reached the playoffs in three of their
first five varsity seasons.

No. 15 NU Closes Out Regular Season Home Schedule Against Lakers

By
Janet
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0

 

NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The No. 15 Niagara hockey team takes part in a two-game league series with Mercyhurst, Friday-Saturday, Feb. 22-23, at 7:05 p.m. each night.  The opening game will take place at Dwyer Arena during Senior Night with the regular-season series wrapping up the following day at Mercyhurst Ice Center.

Tune In
The pair of games vs. Mercyhurst will be broadcasted live on WJJL 1440 AM and PurpleEagles.com, with Paul Hamilton on the call for Friday’s game and Jeremy White on the call for Saturday.

Live stats can be accessed by clicking the appropriate link at the Official Website of Purple Eagle Athletics, www.PurpleEagles.com.

Friday’s game will also be available on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel with Dave Miller and Andrew Peters on call, and Katie Rizynk on the sideline.

Fan Appreciation Weekend
The Niagara University Department of Athletics will host “Fan Appreciation Weekend” at the game on Friday!

Free bags of popcorn will be available to the first 1,000 fans in attendance, and assorted official NHL hats will be available to the first 150 fans to enter Dwyer Arena. Additionally, all merchandise will be discounted at 15 percent off at the official merchandise table. All fans in attendance will be eligible to win various prizes including gift cards, merchandise and an Adirondack-style hockey stick chair, donated by Fox’s Lawn Furniture in East Aurora, N.Y.

So don’t miss out on the action!  Please call the Niagara Ticket Office (located inside Dwyer Arena) at 716-286-TIXX, visit www.PurpleEagles.com/Tickets or by emailing [email protected].

Honoring the Seniors
Friday’s game marks the final scheduled regular season home game for six seniors who are completing their hockey careers as Purple Eagles.  NU has six seniors on the squad, including two of the Top 5 scorers. This season the group of Jason Beattie,  C.J. Chartrain,  Jeff Hannan,  Giancarlo Iuorio,  Dan Weiss and Marc Zanette have combined for 100 goals and 187 assists in 650 games.

Raise The Banner
The weekend split with Robert Morris, and other conference results propelled the Purple Eagles to their first Atlantic Hockey Regular Season Championship.  This is the team’s first AHA regular-season title since the program entered into the conference in 2010-11, and its first conference crown since the 2006-07 season when NU earned the former College Hockey America regular-season title.

The team will be honored after Friday’s game as AHA Commissioner Robert DeGregorio will be presenting the Purple Eagle with the regular season trophy.

Playoff Picture
Niagara’s weekend spilt with Canisius (Feb. 7 & 9) was enough to clinch a first-round playoff bye for the Purple Eagles.  The Purps will host a team yet to be determined in a best-of-three series from March 15-17.

Home Sweet Home
The 4-3 victory on Feb. 15 extended NU’s current home ice unbeaten streak to 19 games, dating back to NU’s 3-3 draw against Air Force on Feb. 11, 2012.  The streak is three short of the program record of 22.  NU is the only team in Division I hockey to go 22 consecutive games without a loss between Feb.11, 2006 and Nov. 17, 2007.

Scouting The Lakers
Mercyhurst is 14-3-3, and 12-9-2 in the AHA with two weeks remaining in the regular season.  The Lakers hold the third spot in the standings with 26 points and four games left.

The team is led by Ryan Misiak (13g; 19a)and Matthew Zay (12g; 20a) who are top on the team with 32 points.  Chris Bodo is tops in goals with 14, while Paul Chiasson has added 13 tallies along with 10 assists for 23 points.

Max Strang has been the go-to goaltender for the Lakers.  He owns a 2.49 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage.

Last Meeting On The Ice
Niagara earned its first win of the season against the Lakers on Oct. 13, 2012.  Matt Williams tallied the game-winning goal midway through the second period.  Williams also added an assist in the Purp’s initial goal scored by Giancarlo Iuorio.  Carsen Chubak pushed aside 25 Mercyhurst shots.

Up Next For Niagara
The Purps wrap up the regular season with a double dip against the Air Force Falcons on Friday-Saturday, March 1-2. Both contests in Colorado Springs, Colo. will begin at 9:05 p.m. eastern.

Get Your Tickets for Postseason Action!
Tickets for all three games of the quarterfinal round of the AHA Playoffs are on sale so contact the Niagara Ticket Office (located inside Dwyer Arena) at 716-286-TIXX, visitwww.PurpleEagles.com/Tickets or emailing [email protected] to reserve your seats today!

 

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