Herons stun #4 Elmira 4-3 in OT. Another NY Hockey OnLine Big Game of the Weekend
GENEVA, N.Y.- Junior forward Julia Mings scored 30 seconds into overtime to complete William Smith’s upset bid of fourth-ranked Elmira at The Cooler Sunday afternoon. The Herons knocked off the Soaring Eagles 4-3 in a United Collegiate Hockey Conference contest. With the win, William Smith extended its winning streak to nine games, the second longest in program history.
The Herons won the opening faceoff of the extra period carried the puck in the attacking zone and set up their offense. Junior Jules Kennedy held the puck along the boards and wristed a shot on cage. Mings, who was standing in front of the Elmira goalie acting as a screen, redirected the shot through Elizabeth Hanson’s legs for her 10th goal of the season.
Today was William Smith’s second win over a ranked opponent and first since a 3-1 victory over then No. 10/8 Oswego to wrap up the 2016-17 season. It was also the Herons’ first win over the Soaring Eagles in 12 tries.
Four different players scored for William Smith (16-7-0, 12-2-0). First-year Izzy Friedman had a team-high two points on two assists. Sophomore Amanda Aalto started in goal and made 22 saves in just over 60 minutes of action.
Elmira (16-4-2, 11-2-0) was led by the trio of Emma Crocker (1g, 1a), Morgan Mordini (2g, 1a) and Kiana Melvin (2a), who accounted for all seven of their points. Stephanie Martin started in goal and made 12 saves in just over 34 minutes in goal. Elizabeth Hanson came on in relief and made 11 saves in the final 26 minutes.
The Soaring Eagles opened the scoring 20 seconds into the game. Mordini collected a pass from Crocker and wristed a shot into the upper left corner of goal. Melvin was also credited with an assist on the goal. It was Mordini’s ninth goal of the season.
Just over a minute later, William Smith tied the game on Alison Weiss’ seventh goal of the season. First-year Alisa Canney forced a turnover in the slot and left a drop pass for Friedman. Friedman fed a pass to Weiss in the left faceoff circle. She one-timed the feed between Martin’s right leg and the left goal post.
Elmira regained the lead with just under five minutes remaining in the opening period. Crocker redirected a shot from the half board past Aalto for her 14th goal of the season. Mordini and Melvin were credited with assists on the goal.
The Herons tied the game 2-2 at the 8:46 mark of the second period. Friedman forced a turnover at her own blue line and raced the length of the ice. She broke into the offensive zone with junior Emily Martino on a 2-on-1. Friedman slid a cross ice pass to Martino who fired the shot past Martin. It was her fifth goal of the season. William Smith took a 3-2 lead on a spectacular individual effort from junior Gina Scibetta. She forced a turnover at her own blue line, skated across the neutral zone and into left faceoff circle. Scibetta spun around a defender deked, around Martin and slipped the puck into the net. It was her team-leading 15th goal of the season. Scibetta’s goal marked the first time that William Smith had a lead in the series and chased Martin from the game.
Mordini’s second goal of the game knotted things at three. She forced a turnover in the offensive zone and wristed a shot past Aalto. Her 10th goal of the season was unassisted. With just under a minute remaining in regulation, a scramble in front of the William Smith goal nearly made overtime unnecessary. Bella Hanson had a shot stopped by Aalto, the rebound popped to Ariella Hoss whose shot was also stoned by Aalto. Hanson’s follow up shot was blocked by senior Kate Klimaszewski.
William Smith had the lone shot in the overtime period.
The Herons finished the game with a 27-25 edge in shots on goal. In a relatively clean game, Elmira was 1-for-2 on the power play and William Smith was 0-for-2 with the extra skater.
The Herons will conclude their regular season next weekend, Feb. 22-23, when they welcome Utica and Nazareth to The Cooler. William Smith will take on the Pioneers on Saturday and the Golden Flyers on Sunday. Faceoff for both games is scheduled for 4 p.m.
