Utica, NY- The Utica College women’s hockey team got back on track and picked up two crucial points in the ECAC West Conference standings as it downed visiting SUNY Potsdam, 3-2, in league play Friday night at the Utica Memorial Auditorium. Sophomore Keira Goin (Dobbs Ferry, NY/Hotchkiss School) made 35 saves in the win.
Utica improves to 6-5-3 (4-2-2 ECAC West), while Potsdam drops to 6-9-1 and 4-7-1 in the ECAC West. Utica moves into fifth place in the conference standings, one point ahead of Potsdam and two points behind fourth ranked Buffalo State. UC wraps up the season series Saturday in Potsdam (4 p.m.).
The Pioneers opened the scoring just over halfway through the first period as sophomore Gabrielle Schnepp (Northville, MI/Belle Tire) took a nice feed from classmate Victoria Pelton (Sterling Heights, MI/Belle Tire) and slid the puck into the open net for her fourth goal of the season. The Bears were able to get the equalizer on the power-play at 17:43 as sophomore Jordan Ott rocketed a slap shot into the top right corner for her team-best eighth goal of the year.
Potsdam took the lead at 10:37 of the second as the Bears once again converted on the man advantage. Sally Mooney’s shot was redirected in front of Goin and found its way to the back of the net for her third tally of the year.
Utica was not deterred as it came out flying in the third period, netting the tying goal just 15 seconds into the final frame. Junior Morgan Reed (Fort Myers, FL/Cushing Academy) was able to sneak a shot through the legs of the Potsdam net minder to collect her team-leading 11th goal of the season. Senior Nicole Schwartz (Danville, CA/San Jose Sharks) assisted on the play.
With less than two minutes remaining in regulation, the Bears were assessed a tripping penalty, which gave Utica one final power-play opportunity. Schwartz set up a screen in front of the Potsdam net and was able to deflect a point shot by freshman Samantha Husak (Jackson, MI/Team Detroit) right under the crossbar to give the Pioneers the go-ahead goal. Veronique Lortie (Chambly, Quebec/Berkshire School) also assisted on Schwartz’s fourth of the year.
Potsdam’s Alexanne Rodrigue made 32 stops in net as she moved to 3-5-1 on the season. The Bears were 2-for-6 on the power play, while Utica was 1-for-5 with the man advantage.
