On Saturday, the NWHL’s Twitter Game of the Week featured the final matchup before the new year, with the Buffalo Beauts fighting to a 3 – 1 victory over the Connecticut Whale. Coming into the matchup, the Beauts and Whale sat at a third place deadlock in the league standings, but three different goal scorers emerged for the Beauts to break the tie and move them into second place outright.
The first period was a scoreless battle, but not without chances from both teams. The Beauts charged into the Whale zone off the opening faceoff in an attempt to create immediate chaos in front of Whale goaltender Sydney Rossman. Buffalo began to sneak shots through from the periphery with one tip in the early minutes from Buffalo captain, Corinne Buie just barely being snared by Rossman for the save. Only moments later, Connecticut’s Kelly Babstock quickly countered with a dangerous snapshot on Amanda Leveille, but the game remained locked at zero as the teams headed into the intermission.
Connecticut came out of the gate strong in the second period, keeping the pressure on Leveille and the Beauts defenders, deep in the Buffalo zone. Again, Babstock led the charge dancing in and out of defenders on the power play in the early minutes of the frame, but the defenders in blue held strong and responded with Jess Jones and Rebecca Vint breaking in on a fruitless two on one on the Whale.
Only five minutes into the frame, strong possession on the Connecticut power play looked like it might be the difference maker for the Whale, but heavy traffic in front of the net neutralized the opportunities and left the Whale with no score. Minutes later, it was Buffalo to break the tie when Jones fought her way to goal, netting her second of the season and igniting the arena in a shower of teddy bears (to be donated to KMR and Gold Star Mothers for the holiday season). No sooner had the plush animals been cleared from the ice, Kristin Lewicki netted her second of the season, following up a juicy rebound in the slot to put the Beauts ahead by two to end the period.
The Whale returned to the ice in period three, ready to settle the score; Rachel Ade and Cydney Roesler made their presence known and continued to pester Leveille. In the fourth minute of the period, the Whale’s efforts finally paid off when Whale rookie Amanda Boulier scored her first NWHL goal to bring the Whale back within one. The goal sparked the Whale and led to several more opportunities, the best of which perhaps on a short whistle after an incredible, sprawling save by Leveille near the halfway point in the period. In the final minutes, the Whale tried for the extra attacker, but a miscommunication led to too many skaters on the ice and in turn created the opposite result with a Whale in the box. Buffalo’s Hayley Scamurra countered when the puck dropped again, to nab an empty netter and seal the game for the Beauts.
Buffalo looks to be slowly piecing together the puzzle to close the gap and begin to find their groove, but Saturday’s win seems like just the tip of the iceberg for a team looking to continue to grow. “I don’t think that we’ve gotten to where we need to be yet,and that’s something we’ll focus on,” noted Beauts coach Ric Seiling. “We’ve got to start defining our team and what kind of team we are.”
Sarah Edney seemed to echo a similar sentiment. “We still had a little bit of up and down,” she said, “especially in the third period, and that’s still something that we’re focusing on, but overall, I feel like a lot more energy – a lot more positive energy, and a lot better feeling after the game.”
“It is a new year,” she continued later, looking forward to the 2018 matchups after the break. “We have a big chance to come out firing and come out on top.”
“The energy is a lot different here,” added Kristin Lewicki. “Definitely starting home in the new year will be a good start for us.”
The Beauts will be back in action at home on January 6th to start off the new year against the Boston Pride, while the Riveters will be hosting the Whale the very next day for their 2018 debut.
(NWHL Photo)
