WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Senior Olivia Drew (York, Maine/Portland Jr. Pirates) stopped 45 shots, the third most in school history but the offensive attack of Williams College proved to be too much as the Valiants were unable to skate by the Ephs in non-conference action Saturday evening.
Drew moves just past fellow netminder Rose Pijaca (Worcester, Mass./Worcester Academy) who now holds the fourth and fifth spots for saves in a single game with 44 and 43 in two contests last season. Drew holds the third spot to herself, trailing just Renee Kirnin ’04 and Kristin Perry ’00.
Sophomore Nicole Mensi (Mamaroneck, N.Y./SUNY Plattsburgh) scored her team leading seventh goal of the season in the loss and freshman defender Ashley Lougheed (Vancouver, Canada/Pacific Steelers) netted the second goal of her career in the contest. Juniors Taryn Harris (Morrison, Colo./Colorado Selects) and Sarah Sinning (Southold, N.Y./National Sports Academy) each added an assist for one point each.
For the second consecutive night, the Valiant special teams unit was impressive, killing off all seven power play opportunities for the Ephs in the game. On the offensive end, the Valiants converted one of their five power play opportunities.
In the opening frame, the Ephs controlled much of the tempo, putting 17 shots on net to just eight from the Valiants but Drew stood tall between the pipes, stopping 16 shots in the opening 20 minutes of action. Williams jumped on top with the game’s first goal at the 10:11 mark of the period, but it was the Valiants responding late when Mensi put home a pass from junior Sarah Sinning (Southold, N.Y./National Sports Academy) with 1:27 remaining to level the scoring as the teams headed to the locker room for the first intermission.
Drew continued her impressive play in the second stanza, stopping another 15 shots in the frame to give her 31 through two periods. Once again it was Williams tallying the first goal of the period, scoring a shorthanded goal to put the purple and yellow up 2-1. It was the Valiants responding late in the frame though, when freshman Ashley Lougheed (Vancouver, Canada/Pacific Steelers) buried a shot from the point on the power-play to make it 2-2 heading into the second intermission.
Drew set a new career-high in saves with her 39th of the contest midway through the third period, and moved into third all-time with her 45th save late in the frame before the Ephs finally broke through for what proved to be the game-winner with 3:53 to play. Williams added an empty net goal two minutes later to put the game out of reach.
The Valiants round out the 2016 calendar year with the contest against Williams, and return to the ice one month from today when they travel to Pennsylvania to take on Lebanon Valley College on January 10 before returning to New England Hockey Conference action on January 13 on the home ice against UMass Boston.
