By Janet Schultz, NYHOL
After a brief winter break the women’s ice hockey schedule is running fulling in WNY.
Buffalo State is 9-5-0 over all as they look toward a full SUNYAC schedule in the coming weeks.
Dakota Carlson leads the scoring with 10 goals and 8 assists followed by WNY’s Vanessa Willick who has 8 goals and 6 assists on the season. Goaltender Casey Horrigan has spent 60 minutes in goal with a shutout. Alexa Todd has been the go-to goalie with 484.30 minutes between the pipes and logging a .934 save percentage with a 4-3-0 record, including a shutout.
Carlson and Todd received Buffalo State Athlete of the Week awards in December while Todd took SUNYAC Goaltender of the Week on January 20 for her 42 saves in a 1-1 tie with #5 Nazareth College.
Across town Hilbert College is 1-13-1 overall with rival UCHC Elmira up next this weekend (Jan. 23). Victoria Battaglia has played in 15 games and scored 5 goals and 7 assists to lead the Hawks scoring chart. Jacqueline Alaburda is second with 3 goals and 3 assists and in third is Rome’s Kelsey Fuller with 2 goals and 7 assists. Goaltender Brook Thompson has played 381.32 minutes with a 0-5-1 record and .942 save percentage. Both Goaltenders Jewel Monford and Tia Card have seen action this season, with Card getting the “W” for the Hawks.
Nazareth College is recording a winning season so far with a 14-0-1 record. That 2-2 tie came against Buffalo State College as the New Year opened the second part of the season. They now face Chatham and Utica Colleges in the next two weeks.
Amy Laskowski has 16 goals and 10 assists for 26 points to lead the Hawks scoring with Meredith Boettcher, 9 goals, 8 assists and Brooke Judiewicz (East Concord) with 4 goals and 12 assists. New York natives MacKenzie Garrow (Akwesasne) and Natalya Garivodsky (Brooklyn) have also contributed to the Hawk’s winning streak.
In goal Mia Gonslaves was named Empire Goal of the Week for January 5, it was her third honor this season after making 17 saves against Salve Regina. She has the 14-0-1 record with 904.4 minutes in the net and a .924 save percentage.
The newest addition to women’s ice hockey in WNY is St. John Fisher. Under Coach Scott McDonald the team is 5-9-1 overall. Leading the scoring is Sophia Grant with 5 goals and 3 assists for 8 points, followed by Keira Reckley with 4 goals and 3 assists. New Yorker’s Cecelia Stewart (Buffalo/Nichols School) has 3 assists; Batavia’s Nicole Doeringer (Amherst Knights) has 3 goals and 1 assists; Erin Lantry (Massena) 2 goals/3assists; Maddie Southwick (Tupper Lake) 1 assist. In Goal Brynn Bacak (Williamsville/Nichols School) has played 840.5 minutes with a 5-8-1 record and .942 save percentage. Goalie Elizabeth Poole has had one start and logged 58.39 minutes with a loss.
RIT’s women’s team is 13-13-0 overall and 9-9-0 in the conference as they head into the second half of the season. Their five-game winning streak was broken with a double loss to Mercyhurst in the first games back after winter break. They now face Brown University, Lindenwood, Syracuse and Penn State to complete the season.
Rochester’s Addie Alvarez is leading the scoring with 9 goals/17 assists; but she is joined by Emma Pickering with 11 goals/15 assists. Brac Kelley follows with 10 goals and 9 assists.
In goal Sophia Bellina has logged 1245.22 minutes in 22 games played and is 11-11-0 with two shutouts. Brenna McNamara has played 307.59 minutes and is 2-2-0.
Pickering was named AHA Defender of the Week on December 6 as RIT celebrated with 50th year of ice hockey. Till Keranen was named AHA Rookie of the Week after she scored the game-winning goal with 57 seconds left in regulation to beat Delaware 3-2.
In ACHA action:
Niagara University’s D1 team (aboe file photo 2024-25) has played 16 games and is 7-7-0-2 with 16 points as an Independent. They will play Liberty,the University of Arizona and the University of Massachusetts in the upcoming weeks.
The D2 team, which plays in the CHE, is 3-4-0 after seven games and will play RIT, Mercyhurst, West Virginia and Robert Morris in the upcoming weeks.
Brockport University is 0-6-0; RIT is 5-2-0 and Oswego is 0-1-0.
There’s a lot of hockey action across WNY and games are open to the public. A great chance to see some fast-paced, skilled hockey locally. Go to the respective college website for ticket information. Many games are open free of charge.
