HAMILTON – For the first time in program history, the No. 6 Colgate women’s hockey team are ECAC Hockey Tournament Champions after defeating St. Lawrence 3-2 Sunday afternoon. With the win, the Raiders are 15-6-1 overall and receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
HOW IT HAPPENED
St. Lawrence immediately pressured the Raiders’ defense, but some stellar blocked shots and saves by first-year Kayle Osborne kept the Saints off the board to start the period. At the 7:59 mark, the Saints took the lead and made it a 1-0 game.
After more defensive saves, the Raiders created a ton of offensive momentum and began to pressure the net relentlessly. With 6:57 remaining in the first period, sophomore Kaitlyn O’Donohoe caused a turnover in the left faceoff zone and scored to tie the game up at 1-1.
At the end of the first period, the Raiders were outshooting the Saints 14-8.
The second period started with a St. Lawrence hooking call at the 2:27 mark. Just 28 seconds into the power play, first-year Kalty Kaltounkova scored from the left faceoff zone to give the Raiders their first lead of the game at 2-1.
The frame was filled with penalties from both teams as Colgate finished the period with two while the Saints were in the box three times. Behind strong clears from the Raiders’ defense and key saves by Kayle Osborne, Colgate kept the Saints off the board in the second period despite two power play chances.
Colgate’s offensive pressure dominated early in the third period and just 2:50 into the frame, junior Rosy Demers skated up the left side and passed low in the slot to a waiting Sammy Smigliani who chipped it in to give the Raiders the 3-1 lead.
Soon after Colgate’s goal, the Saints scored on a breakaway opportunity to cut the Raiders’ lead to 3-2 with 13:31 remaining in regulation.
As time dwindled down, the Raiders continued to dominate possession of the puck and create opportunities in the offensive zone. The Saints tried to pull their goaltender several times, but Colgate was relentless with keeping the puck out of its defensive zone, forcing St. Lawrence to not pull their goaltender until 10 seconds left in regulation. With the extra skater, the Saints were unable to score in the closing seconds, crowning Colgate as the ECAC Hockey Champions.
COLGATE SCORING PLAYS
• Period 1 | 13:03 Sophomore Kaitlyn O’Donohoe caused a turnover in the left faceoff zone and after a deflected shot bounced off an SLU stick, first-year Kalty Kaltounkova passed it back to O’Donohoe who scored low in the slot.
• Period 2 | 2:55 Sophomore Sammy Smigliani passed out to sophomore Danielle Serdachny, who brought the puck out near the blue line and dumped it off to Kaltounkova who scored from the left faceoff zone.
• Period 3 | Junior Rosy Demers’ turnover led her to skate up the left side and dish it to Smigliani who was waiting low in the slot and chipped it in.
STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
• Sophomore Sammy Smigliani recorded a multi-point night (1G, 1A) and had another goal in the Semifinal win against Quinnipiac, earning her the ECAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player.
• First-year Kalty Kaltounkova recorded her fifth multi-point game of the season as she finished the game with one goal and one assist. She is now second on the team in total points with 18.
• First-year Kayle Osborne recorded 14 saves in the contest, including a game-high seven saves in the first period.
• Smigliani won a team-high 72.7 percent of her faceoffs, helping Colgate to win 61.2 percent of their overall faceoffs.
• Colgate held St. Lawrence scoreless on the power play, forcing the Saints to go 0-for-3 throughout the game.
• The Raiders held the Saints to a season-low in shots by period with two in the third period, tying the previous season low set against Syracuse on Nov. 20.
• Colgate outshot St. Lawrence 26-16 in the game with a period-high 14 shots in the first.
• This is the first ECAC Hockey Tournament title for the Raiders.
THE BOTTOM LINE
• No. 6 Colgate 3, St. Lawrence 2
RECORD UPDATES
• Colgate holds a 15-6-1 record and earned an 8-4-0 in ECAC Hockey play.
• St. Lawrence is 6-6-0 overall with a conference record of 5-5.
FROM THE SOURCE
On winning the tournament, head coach Greg Fargo said, “I’m just so proud of this team. We really stuck with our game plan from start to finish. This is a real team that came together to play like a team tonight.
“When we started back in May and we were talking about the season ahead, we didn’t even know if we’d be playing and to their credit, we’ve just continued to control the things that we could and take one step in front of the other. When you do that, you get a team that’s as tough as these guys.”
On the unpredictability of this season, senior Coralie Larose said, “I think it just shows the work ethic on our team. Even though we didn’t know if we were going to have a season, everyone’s just battling and putting in the work over the summer. Clearly, it shows because we lucked out. We got a season. Thanks for our amazing faculty here. It’s awesome.”
UP NEXT
The Raiders earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament with the selection show tonight at 9 p.m. The tournament, which is being held this year in Erie, Pa., fields eight teams with the Quarterfinals set for March 15-16. The Frozen Four takes place March 19-21.
(Colgate Women’s Hockey Photos)
