WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – The Connecticut College women's ice hockey team's third period comeback fell just short, as the visiting Camels fell 2-1 to host Williams on Saturday afternoon from Lansing Chapman Arena. With the loss, Conn falls to 9-10-1 overall and 5-8-1 in conference play, while Williams improves to 10-8-1 on the year and 4-7-1 in NESCAC play.
Conn dominated the opening minutes, recording the first five shots of the contest, but Erin Pye kept the Camels off the board. At 9:06, Conn nearly opened the scoring but Jess Pistorino (Charlestown, Mass.) ripped her shot off the post. Just 45 seconds later, Williams opened the scoring as Sophia Hoppe finished off a pass from Jaelyn Keiver to make it 1-0. The Camels continued their strong play in the first period, but were unable to get on the board, trailing 1-0 after one.
The teams traded the first six shots of the middle frame, but both Devon Galizio (Wayland, Mass.) and Pye answered the tests. The Ephs got the first power play of the afternoon just past the seven minute mark, but Galizio stopped all four shots that Williams was able to generate with the extra skater. Williams got another power play three minutes later, but again Galizio turned the Ephs aside. However, with just over a minute left in the period, Keiver doubled the lead off assists from Hoppe and Katherine Kang as Conn trailed 2-0 heading to the third.
Conn earned an early power play in the third power and capitalized on the woman-advantage. Casey Chesner (Great Falls, Va.) found Serena Seiple (Wilmette, Ill.) who fired home at 1:57 to make it 2-1. Just a minute later, the Camels earned another power play, but this time were unable to convert, as the game remained 2-1. With just over four minutes remaining, Williams nearly pushed the lead back to two, but Hoppe's shot rang off the crossbar and stayed out. Conn pulled Galizio with two minutes left, but were unable to find the tying goal, falling 2-1.
Both teams recorded 24 shots, while Williams held the slim 25-24 edge on face-off wins.
Galizio continued her strong play in net, finishing with 22 saves. Seiple tallied a goal for the second straight game, while Chesner chipped in the lone assist. Alana Burm (Hingham, Mass.) led the way with five shots on goal, while Ashley Engle (Basking Ridge, N.J.) won 11 face-offs. Conn finished 3-3 on the penalty kill and 1-2 on the power play.
Pye got the start in net finishing with 23 saves. Hoppe and Keiver paced Williams with two points on one goal and one assist each, while the Ephs finished 1-2 on the penalty kill and 0-3 on the power play.
Conn returns home on Friday night, as the Camels host Bowdoin at 7:00 p.m. in Dayton Arena.
