ASTON, PA. – The William Smith College Neumann ice hockey teams skated to a 2-2 tie in an ECAC West contest this afternoon. All four goals came in the middle period as both teams earned a point in the conference standings.
The Herons (2-3-2, 0-3-2) opened the scoring at 2:23 of the second period. Sophomore Rebecca Begley notched her third goal of the season, shooting a rebound past Knights’ goalie, Justina Mayr. With the Herons on a power play, first-year Stephanie Hampton fired a shot from the point that Mayr turned aside. Begley pounced on the loose puck and fired it into the open half of the goal. SophomoreKrista Federow won the faceoff to Hampton and was credited with an assist on the goal.
A little under three minutes later, Neumann (0-6-1, 0-4-1) tied the game at one. Donna Williams notched a power play goal, redirecting a Kelly Fox shot from the point past William Smith goalie Maggie Salmon. Seventy seconds later, Grace Klienbach gave Neumann a 2-1 lead. On a scramble in front of the goal, she collected a loose puck and lifted it over Salmon’s pads. Bek Lucas was credited with an assist on the goal.
William Smith’s Catherine Linehan tied the game at two at 15:43 of the second period. Linehan banked home a shot from the slot for her first goal of the season. Morgan Bayreuther was credited with an assist on the goal.
The first and third periods belonged to the goaltenders as they kept the offenses at bay for 45 minutes. Late in the third period, Salmon stopped a golden scoring opportunity by the Knight’s Grace Klienbach. With Neumann playing short-handed, Klienbach broke into the offensive zone all alone but was not able to beat Salmon’s outstretched right pad.
The Herons had their scoring opportunities late in the third period but could not put the puck past Mayr. With the power play, William Smith showed great offensive zone presence but Mayr was able to turn aside shots from Grace Durham in the slot and a Begley blast from the point to keep the game tied.
The Knight’s carried play in the overtime period and drew a penalty on William Smith. Salmon was once again up to the task and turned aside three point blank scoring opportunities from Neumann.
Salmon started in goal for William Smith and stopped 36 of the 38 shots she faced, while Mayr turned aside 34 of the 36 shots that the Herons put on goal.
Both teams struggled with the man advantage. William Smith was 1-of-9 with the extra skater, while Neumann went 1-8 on the power play.
The Herons will be back in action today when they take on the Knights in the second half of the back to back. Faceoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.
