Geneva, N.Y. – The William Smith College ice hockey team dropped an ECAC West contest to Chatham 6-2 at The Cooler this afternoon. The Cougars scored three second and third period goals to notch their first conference win of the season.
The Herons (3-5-2, 1-4-2) started fast, jumping out to a 1-0 lead on a first period power-play goal, when first-year Laura Rollins scored her first collegiate goal. Classmate Stephanie Hampton dug the puck out of the corner and fed a pass to sophomore Krista Federow. Federow skated behind the back of the net to draw the Cougar goalie, Kasandra Petersen, out of position, and then sent a centering pass to Rollins who fired the puck into an open cage. Federow and Hampton were credited with assists on the goal. This was the Herons’ fourth-straight game with a power-play goal.
William Smith’s special teams unit struck again at 19:12 of the first period. This time the Herons scored shorthanded. With Emily Burton in the box serving an illegal body checking penalty, sophomore Kiley Fewster single-handedly helped William Smith kill 1:13 of the penalty. Fewster blocked three shots and turned the third one into a breakaway goal. After blocking a Jillian Rowland shot in the defensive zone, she broke through the neutral zone and into the attacking end all alone. Petersen turned aside her first shot but the rebound went right back to Fewster who deposited a shot into the back of the net.
Chatham (3-5-0, 1-5-0) scored the next six goals to ice the game for the Cougars. Cassidy Colhoun and Katrina Hawkins each scored a game-high two goals to lead Chatham. Colhoun beat William Smith goalie, Maggie Salmon, near post on a shot from just inside the right faceoff circle. Erika Martin collected an assist on the goal. At 8:13 of the first period Hawkins tied the game at two, firing a wrist shot into the top corner of the goal. Jennifer Jones and Erika Bronk were credited with assists on Hawkins’s goal. Colhoun’s second goal of the game gave the Cougar’s the lead for good. She collected a rebound in front of the net and lifted it over a sprawling Salmon. The goal was a power-play goal for Chatham.
Hawkins’ second goal of the night came 30 seconds into the third period. Erika Martin had a power-play opportunity turned aside by Salmon but Hawkins was there to send home the rebound. Karlee Kaufman and Kirajean Frost added third period goals to give the cougars the final margin.
Salmon got the start in goal for the Herons and turned aside 33 shots. Petersen started in goal for the Cougars and made 23 stops. She kept William Smith off the board for the final 40 minutes, making 15 saves.
Both teams scored with the extra attacker in a contest that had 14 penalties and 31 penalty minutes. Chatham was 2-7 on the power play, while William Smith went 1-5.
William Smith has completed the 2015 portion of its schedule. The Herons will return to action on January 5, when they travel to Morrisville for a 7 p.m. game against first-year varsity program Morrisville. William Smith will return to The Cooler on January 8-9, when they host Franklin Pierce for a pair of non-conference games.
