Five different goal scorers helped the #6/7 Clarkson University Women’s Hockey team defeat Union 5-1 on Friday night in Cheel Arena.
Clarkson is now 9-3-1 overall this season and 5-0-0 in ECAC Hockey games while Union falls to 2-12-0 overall and 0-5-0 in conference. Clarkson is now on a seven-game winning streak.
“I thought we were able to generate some good scoring chances off of some sustained offensive zone pressure and puck possession time tonight,” said Head Coach Matt Desrosiers. “We did a good job creating some time and space for us to make some plays by moving the puck and our feet. We need to take those positives from tonight and carry those into our game tomorrow.”
Clarkson took the lead 16:21 into the first period. Taylor Turnquist sent the puck down the left side of the rink and around the back of Union’s goal. Rhyen McGill collected the puck on the right side and then her wrist shot was tipped in by assistant captain Genevieve Bannon.
The Golden Knights doubled their lead 3:45 into the middle frame. Co-captain Cayley Mercer stole the puck at the Union blueline and then pressed on the attack. She was able to square the puck to Michaela Pejzlova who scored.
Union got one goal back at 11:27 when Katelynn Rowe scored off the post on a power-play. However, the Union momentum was short-lived as Clarkson regained a two-goal lead at 18:25. Ella Shelton stopped the puck from crossing the blue-line and her snap pass back into the offensive zone ricocheted off McGill. Cassidy Vinkle was the first to the puck and she ripped a quick shot before anyone could react.
Clarkson added two insurance goals in the final period. First, Turnquist took a shot from the circle and Kelly Mariani was able to redirect it out of the air and into the goal. Clarkson added one more goal when Josiane Pozzebon scored on an empty net.
Clarkson had a 44-21 advantage in shots. Clarkson was 0-2 on the power-play while Union was one of six on extra man opportunities. McKenzie Johnson made her first start of the year and made 20 saves. Kate Spooner had 39 stops for Union.
Clarkson will take on Rensselaer at 3:00 pm on Saturday afternoon.
