Team China came out blazing in the first period of a preseason game against the Buffalo Beauts. Within 8 minutes they had put the puck past Buffalo Goaltender Kelsey Neumann. Several minutes later Rachel Lianes garnered her second goal for Team China and the period ended 2-0 in favor of China.
The Beauts came out of the locker room fast, hard and determined. Hayley Scammurra scored Buffalo’s first goal and then Corinne Buie, assisted by Jess Jones and Maddie Elia tied the score at 2-2. Buffalo’s Sarah Edney secured another goal before the end of the second period and both teams left the ice with Buffalo coming back from a two-goal deficit to a 3-2 score.
The third period was also filled with hard-hitting action and with China in the penalty box, Buie scored on the powerplay and the third ended with a 4-2 win for the Buffalo Beauts.
This was the first international match-up for the NWHL as the New York Riveters take on Team Russia on Friday (Oct. 13) and the Connecticut Whale face Team Russia later in the pre-season.
The Buffalo Beauts are back on the ice Monday (Oct. 16) for a pre-season game against the Buffalo Junior Sabres. Game time is 8:30 p.m. at HarborCenter. Tickets are available on-line at www.nwhl.zone or at the door.
Fans will see a number of hometown favorites on the Buffalo Beauts as Hayley Scamurra, Jordan Ott, Maddie Elia, Jacquie Greco, Katherine Donohue and Julia DiTondo are members of the team. Along with NY natives,
Other players with NY connections are former RIT’s Kourtney Kunichika, SUNY Plattsburgh’s Kelsey Neumann and Syracuse University’s Jessica Sibley.
