GENEVA, NY- The Utica College women’s hockey team remained unbeaten and picked up the ECAC West Conference sweep of William Smith College as it downed the Herons 6-1 Sunday afternoon. Five different players scored on the day for UC.
Utica improves to 4-0 on the year and 2-0 in the ECAC West after the first weekend of league play. The last time the Pioneers started a season 4-0 was during the 2006-2007 season, when UC went on to win a program-record 18 games. The Pioneers return to action next weekend as they take on conference opponent Oswego State in a home-and-home series. The teams will faceoff at Oswego on Saturday, before traveling to Utica on Sunday to wrap up the weekend. Both games are scheduled for 3 p.m.
Senior Morgan Reed (Fort Myers, FL/Cushing Academy) led the Pioneers with four points on the day on two goals and two assists, while junior Gabrielle Schnepp (Northville, MI/Belle Tire) tallied one goal and two assists. Freshman Lauren Patterson (Burlington, Ontario/Oakville) also had a multi-point outing as she added three assists. Reed, Schnepp, and Patterson have now registered at least one point in each of the Pioneers’ four games this season.
Reed got things going early as she netted her first of the game just 17 seconds into the opening frame, off an assist from Patterson. Freshman Jennifer Liu (North Saanich, British Columbia/Shaftesbury Titans ) added to the lead three minutes later as she took a feed from Reed and found the back of the net for her first collegiate goal. Junior Emily Coope (Phoenix, AZ/Colorado Tigers), who scored in the final second of Saturday’s game, netted her third of the year at 13:14 to put Utica on top 3-0. Janessa Haasbeek (Grand Forks, ND/Canadian International Hockey Academy) and Taylor Osowski (Highlands Ranch, CO/Colorado Selects) assisted on the play.
William Smith was able to get one back at 7:37 of the second period as Dori Craig put in her second of the year, off assists form Tess Madarasz and Rebecca Begley. It was the first goal the Herons scored on the weekend and snapped the shutout streak of junior goalie Keira Goin (Dobbs Ferry, NY/Hotchkiss School) at 120:34.
Schnepp regained the three-goal lead just 40 seconds into the third period as she found the back of the net for her fourth goal of the season. Patterson and freshman Kayla Dion (Colchester, VT/Boston Shamrocks ) assisted on the play. Reed netted her second of the day and fourth of the season just five minutes later as she connected with Schnepp and Patterson, at 5:54 to put the Pioneers up 5-1. Sophomore Samantha Husak (Jackson, MI/Grass Lake) capped off the scoring at 18:57 as she scored her first of the year, off assists from Schnepp and Reed.
Goin made 37 saves on the day, including 16 in the third period as she picked up her third win of the year. She now boasts a .975 save percentage and .67 goals against average, which rank fifth in the nation in both categories.
