By Janet Schultz, NYHOL Writer/Photographer
WESTERN NEW YORK
Well the season came to an end with most Championships in women’s hockey being completed just before the cancellation of events due to CoVID 19. In the women’s collegiate hockey scene, only the biggest Championship was canceled…the NCAA Frozen Four.
With that being said, the Schultz’s, your NYHOL staff that covers women’s hockey, had it’s own challenges this season. Randy had cancer surgery in August, back surgery in November and with recuperation they did not make as many collegiate games as they usually did. In fact, for the first time in many years Janet never made it to RIT for their media day or a game and she apologizes. We are hoping things will be better in the Fall and we look forward to the 20-21 season.
While Janet and Randy may not have gotten to the arenas, they did follow the teams and thank the Sports Information people at each College for making sure press releases were sent and the web sites were up-to-date! This is one time when the world wide web kept NYHOL going.
So without further ado, here is a recap of the season, with photos from Janet’s archives!
Buffalo State College
Under the guidance of newly appointed Head Coach David Dee, the Bengals posted a 6-19-0 season ending with a 4-2 win over Cortland in regular season play, and missing out on a playoff berth.
Lila Toczek and Natasha Steinle topped the leader board with 17 and 14 points, respectively. In goal Bri Gawronski made 679 saves on 755 shots in 21 games.
The Bengals bid farewell to Seniors Lila Toczek (Pendleton/NJPE); Cheyenne Matson (Alaska), Jessica Carter (Arizona) and Natasha Steinle (Colorado).
A familiar face is behind the bench with Coach Dee, WNY native Rachel Grampp who played in the WNYGVIH league and for Elmira College.
RIT
Second Year Coach Chad Davis took the Tigers to a 12-19-4 record and ended the regular season against Lindenwood.
The Tigers then headed to Buffalo and Harborcenter for the CHA Tournament. They met Penn State in game one of the quarterfinals, losing 4-1. The Tournament was completed with Mercyhurst defeating Robert Morris for the title.
Heading the scoreboard for RIT this season was Abby Davies with 10 goals/12 assists; Jamie Nolan, 13 goals/6 assists and Rachel Goff, 8 goals/9 assists.
Goalie Terra Lanteigne played 1529.58 minutes with 9 wins, 13 losses, 4 ties and 1 shutout. She had a .929 save percentage.
RIT congratulated seniors Madison Farrand, Taylor Baker, Jade Mancini and Lanteigne.
In last minute news Head Coach Chad Davis and Assistant Coach Hannah McGowan have departed ways with RIT (USCHO news, April 30, 2020).
Davis was hired in August 2018 and led the Tigers to a 24-37-9 record in the two years. He was named CHA Coach of the Year in 2019. Prior to RIT, Davis was head coach of the women’s hockey program at Adrian College in Michigan. He was named ACHA DIII Women’s Coach of the Year in 2017.
McGowan served as Davis’ assistant coach at Adrian and then joined Davis at RIT. She played for Adrian in 2011-15 and then played in the NWHL with the Buffalo Beauts.
There is no information on a successor and no comment by RIT.
Nazareth
Nazareth comes off an 18-5-3 season, losing its last regular season game to Williams Smith, 9-1. They headed into the UCHC Championship series and face William Smith again, and again, losing 3-1.
Keeley Rose, Abbey Luth and Hailey Redders were named to the All UCHC Team for women’s hockey. Rose served as team captain and was fourth in points with 24 and second in assists with 17.
Luth transferred in during the off season and scored 15 goals and 20 assists, leading the team in points with Redders scoring 16 goals/16 assists and was second in points with 32.
University of Buffalo
Playing in the Southeast Division of the ACHA, the University of Buffalo women’s team ended with a 10-8-0 season under new Head Coach Phil Basinski.
Abby Moon headed the scoring with 11 goals/16 assists followed by Kim Corrie (13 goals/11 assists) and Mia Feola, 11 goals/11 assists.
Goalie duties were split with Finley VanHouten having a 7-4-0 record and Freshman Izzy Battaglia with 3-3-0, one shutout.
WNY NOTES:
Meghan Roche, a former WNYGVIH Frontier/LakeShore/Orchard Park player was named Player of the Year and to the First Team All Athlete Team in the ACHA. She plays for Mercyhurst.
