Well November is in the books and December hockey is underway. As we moved into December the college women’s teams were well underway and the girls high school was just beginning.
In the Central Section of New York, Utica was 9-1 with its only loss to Morrisville. Georgiana Santulls was named UCHC Rookie of the Week for November 13 after one goal and three assists in a sweep of Chatham. They opened the season with a 6-0 victory over Kings College. Familiar to New York on the Kings squad was Meghan Mietlicki of Caledonia and the Rochester Monarchs and King’s Assistant Coach Megan Ahern is a graduate of Hamilton College and native of Oswego where she played for Millbrook School.
Over at Syracuse the Orange are 4-10-1 on the season with Clifton Park’s Marielle McHale named CHA Rookie of the Week for November 5. She had her first career goal at Penn State with a Syracuse 5-2 win. Emma Plaski was named CHA Player of the Week for November 19 after a four-point and first career hat trick against RIT.
The Colgate Red Raiders are 7-5-2 coming into December with Jessie Eldridge marking a career milestone by scoring first against Robert Morris and getting her 50th career goal, the 8th Raider to meet that milestone. Bailey Larson is the 11th player in history to make the 100th career point mark. Tanner Gates was named ECAC Rookie of the Week for November 12 with 2 assists in 2 games against Robert Morris.
Elmira College is 5-1-1 with its only loss to Plattsburgh. Katie Granto was named Elmira’s Athlete of the Week as well as UCHC Player of the Week after 6 goal and 3 assists in two games. Jess Adams was named EC Athlete of the Week on November 26b and Elmira is ranked third in the USCHO and D3Hockey.com polls.
With Victoria Gibson named NEWHL Goaltender of the Week after a shutout over Neumann , Cortland is 2-4-2 overall. Gibson was also named Cortland’s Athlete of the Week.
The Big Red are 6-1-4 heading into December. In hockey news Jaime Bourbonnais, Kristin O’Neill, Micah Zandee-Hart and Head Coach Dough Derraugh led Canada to second place in the Four Nations Cup. Also on Team Canada was alums Laura Fortino, Rebecca Johnson, Brianne Jenner, Jillian Saulnier.
Hamilton is 2-2 on the season opening with a 4-3 loss to Williams.
Williams is 6-0 . Gina Scibetta was named to the D3Hockey.com National Team of the Week after posting seven points in a 2-0-0 weekend against Salve Regina. Olivia Williams was named UCHC Goaltender of the Week after stopping 52 of 54 shots and making 32 saves in victories over Stevenson. Also in the spotlight for Williams was Abbey Luth named UCHC Player of the Week for November 20, the first Heron to have a Natural Hat Trick in a 5-1 defeat of Lebanon.
Morrisville is 7-3-1 overall with Karoline Arvik named Morrisville Athlete of the Week for November 28 after a shutout in net over Buffalo State. Jessica Ujcik was named CHC Player of the Week on November 12 after she led the team of a sweep of Salve Regina.
In the East Union College is 2-10-2 overall with wins over Lindenwood (3-2) with Sierra Lee scoring the winning goal; 3-2 over RIT with Grace Herting scoring the game winner.
RPI Engineers are 4-7-4. Kira Bombay was named MAC Goaltender of the Week on November 12 after a 2 wins with a .50 gaa and .979 save percentage in her first college win 1-0 over brown and then a 2-1 win over Yale.
Manhattanville’s Amanda Sabia and Zoey Pellowitz took home MAC Women’s Hockey Player of the Week honors in offense and defense with Sabia having her first career hat trick with a 6-2 win over Stevenson and Pellowitz having a plus 2 on a blocked shot in a two-game, 7 pt weekend along with a unassisted goal. Pellowitz was named UCHC Player of the Week on November 6 and then to the D3Hockey National Team of the Week on November 9. Nicole Mensi and Pellowtiz took MAC Player of the Week Offense and Defense Honors after Mensi had 2 goals and 1 assist and Pellowitz had the 2nd and 3rd goal of the season. Pellowitz was also named to the D3 National Team. Amanda Sabria was named MAC Player of the Week November 26 and to the D3 team; Rose Pijaca was named MAC Goaltender ot he Week and to the D3 Team as well as UCHC Player of the Week. The Valiants went 2-0 on a weekend against Bowdoin and Wesleyan with wins in the 12th Annual Codfish Bowl.
Way up North…Clarkson is 12-2, with their only losses to St. Lawrence and Yale. Clarkson is defending their ECAC title. Lauren Gabel was named ECAC Player of the Month for October and HCA National Player of the Month for October. Gabel was also ECAC Player of the Week November 26 and named to Second NCAA Second Team November 27. She led the nation in goals. TT Cianfarano was named NCAA Women’s Hockey Second Team on November 6. The Oswego native graduated from Quinnipiac where she played from 2014 to 2018. She is now a graduate student at Clarkson and playing her fifth season of collegiate hockey.
Plattsburgh’s only loss this season was a 0-1 to Adrian College of Michigan. Courtney Moriartz was named NEWHL Player of the Week November 6; Kassi Abbot NEWHL Goaltender of the Week and Hanna Rose, NEWHL Rookie of the week for the same period. Honors also went to MacKenzie Miller, D3Hockey Team of the Week; Kassi Abbott, D3 Hockey Team of the Week; Annie Katonka NEWHL Player of the Week; Kassi Abbott and Hanna Rose also took NEWHL honors on November 20. The honors continued November 27 with Erika McArdle, Abbott and Sierra Benjamin receiving NEWHL honors.
Up at St. Lawrence the Saints are 9-6-1 and also receiving recognition with Kalie Grant named ECAC Player of the Week and Kristen Guerriero ECAC Rookie of the Week for November 19. Grant led the Saints to a pair of victories with multiple point games and Guerriero had her first collegiate goal in a win over Boston.
Alum Paul J. Flanagan ‘80 and head coach at Syracuse was recognized as one of the Legends of Appleton.
Canton is 2-3-2 . Lily Cullen had her first collegiate goal in a 1-1 OT tie against Potsdam. It was a power-play goal in the third period. Sarah Kosrashie was named CHC Rookie of the Week for November 5 after scoring a third period goal for a 3-0 win at Salve Regina.
The West Section is struggling with Buffalo State 2-4-1 under interim Head Coach Jim Fowler. They beat Canton and tied Potsdam.
Over at RIT first-year Head Coach Chad Davis has the Tigers at 3-8-4 as they enter December. Brittany Gout was named CHA Player of the Week November 12 after posting a goal and 3 assists with a win and tie at Dartmouth. Terra Lanteigne is hot in goal and named CHA Goaltender of the Week on November 12 after 89 saves on 92 shots 1-0-1 vs Dartmouth. She also took the monthly honors from the CHA for October after posting a 2.07 GAA and .9129 save percentage and playing in all 8 games in October.
The best news from the West is that in their Inaugural Season Nazareth’s women have had 10 straight wins and just recently lost to nationally-ranked Elmira College. They held the Soaring Eagles to a 0-0 after the first but then Elmira got on the boards with two in the second and two in the third ending 4-0 in favor of Elmira. Goalie Adriana Brehm made 11 saves to preserve the scoreless first period. Nazareth is also carrying a large group of New York State players including Ashley Decker of Liverpool and the Lysander Lighting; Hannah Tulchinsley, Clifton Park/Ct. Jr. Eagles; Nikolle VanStralen, Bloomfield/Rochester Monarchs; Stephanie Kubis, Central Square/Syracuse Nationals; Gabriella DeMeo, Hamburg/Niagara Jr. Purple Eagles and Frontier/LakeShore/Orchard Park of the WNYGVIH League; Taylor Hudo, Alexandria Bay/St. Lawrence Steel; Hanna Barry, Hauppauge/Tilton School; Rebecca Audi, Rochester/Penfield High School; Cristina Darby, Saratoga Springs/St. Lawrence Steel; Emily Kromer, Angola/Niagara Jr Purple Eagles/Frontier/LakeShore/Orchard Park of the WNYGVIH League; Kelley Rose, Clayton/Northwood; Shanley Austin, Rochester/Morrisville; Lauren Jones, Syracuse/Lysander Lightning; Kelly McMorrow, Ossining/Brewster Lady Bull Dogs.
Nazareth Coach Chris Baudo was previously the director and head coach at the Selects Academy housed at Bishop Kearney High School. He is a native of Buffalo. A graduate of Hamilton College, Baudo played four years and was named MVP twice.
Nazareth plays in the United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC). They play out of Bill Gray’s Regional Iceplex.
NWHL News and Notes
The Buffalo Beauts are heading to the All Star Game in Nashville, February 9-10 with first-year Goaltender Shannon Szabados, defensemen Blake Bolden and Savannah Harmon and Forward Hayley Scummura on the Szabados team. On Team Stecklin are Buffalo’s Nicole Hensley in Goal; Emily Pfalzer and Lisa Chesson on D and Dani Cameransi on Forward.
Buffalo has named Cody McCormick head coach after reliving Ric Seiling and Craig Muni of those duties. The announcement came just hours before the Beauts took on the Connecticut Whale on December 7. The Beauts are sitting in third place in the NWHL with 4 wins and 3 losses after seven games. Hayley Scummura is leading the league in points with 6 goals and 7 assists and Goaltender Shannon Szabados lead the league between the pipes with a 1.60 GAA and .932 save percentage.
The Boston Pride are in first place with a 6-2 record followed by Minnesota, also 6-2. It’s then the Buffalo Beauts (4-3), Connecticut Whale (2-5) and Metropolitan Riveters (2-8).
The NWHL announced that the selections in the 2018 Draft will be revealed on Twitter and Instagram over a two-day period next week. The picks in the first two rounds will be made beginning at 11 a.m. ET on Wednesday, Dec. 19. The picks in rounds 3-5 will be made beginning at 11 a.m. ET on Thursday, Dec. 20.
There will be five selections in each round. Each team will have 90 seconds to draft a player. Draft order was determined based on winning percentage in the first half of the current season, utilizing goal differential as the tiebreaker.
Here is the order of selection by teams: Metropolitan Riveters, Connecticut Whale, Buffalo Beauts, Minnesota Whitecaps and Boston Pride.
Of the 20 players selected in the 2017 Draft, 11 are currently in the NWHL:
High School Girls
History continues to be made in high school girls hockey. First we welcomed a new league in Section 1. I am still waiting more information on those teams and coaches.
WNY welcomed a combined team of Starpoint and Niagara-Wheatfield, appropriately called Niagara County. Hopefully another school will be joining them next year.
In addition to new teams, Ithaca came to WNY to play Williamsville in a pre-season, non-league game. That ended with a Williamsville 4-2 win. WNYGVIH held four non-league games this season opening with Williamsville 9-3 over Kenmore Grand Island and then a FLOP 2-1 win over Williamsville and a 2-2 Monsignor Martin/Williamsville tie. The final two games were held at Riverworks.
The Inaugural Game for Niagara County was held November 26 at Hockey Outlet with Monsignor Martin winning 9-3 over the new team. Scoring the first goal for Niagara County was seventh grader Melissa Mallone. She scored it at the 6:08 mark of the second period. Between the pipes for Niagara County was Annie Riek.
Two games had to be postponed due to weather with the Lancaster/Iroquois/Depew vs Frontier/LakeShore/Orchard Park game being rescheduled for January 9 at 4 p.m. at Holiday. The Amherst vs Monsignor Martin has to be rescheduled.
As of Dec. 17 FLOP is in first place with 5-0-1 record; but Williamsville is right there with them with a 5-1-0 win followed by LID with a 4-1-1.
Emma Roland (Williamsville) leads the scoring with 15 goals/12 assists followed by Emma Faso (CASH) with 9 goals/5 assists. Faso tied the all-time scoring points with 117.
Up north Salmon River leads in Section X and Plattsburgh is leading Section VII. Skaneateles leads Section III. Those teams have just gotten underway.
Ithaca is 2-1-1 overall in their section.
Mark your calendars for the NYS Championship as it will be held at HarborCenter February 8 and 9. More information on that will be posted at www. nyhockeyonline.com as it becomes available.
In other women’s hockey news…
…RIT’s Kendall Cornine has been drafted by the Metropolitan Riveters as the sixth overall in the 208-19 draft. The NWHL draft is underway at the time of this posting.
…Clarkson’s Lauren Gabel was drafted to Buffalo with the NWHL Beauts.
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