UTICA, N.Y.—Fourth-seeded Utica College (16-8-1) defeated the fifth-seeded
SUNY Potsdam women’s hockey team (10-14-2) 5-1 in the ECAC West
Quarterfinals at the Utica Memorial Auditorium on Friday night. Louise
Steele-Norton and Morgan Reed each recorded two goals and an assist to
lead the Pioneers, while junior forward Jessica Silveira (Brampton,
Ontario/Brampton Thunder) scored a power-play goal for the Bears.
About two minutes into the contest the game was delayed by a scoreboard
outage. After the game resumed, Steele-Norton scored on the rebound after
a scramble in front for a 1-0 Utica lead at the 10:08 mark. Reed struck
just over three minutes later with a wrap-around attempt. Potsdam outshot
the Pioneers 6-5 in the first period.
At the 5:38 mark of the second period, Silveira roofed the rebound on a
chance in front of the net to close the gap to 2-1. Freshman forward Sally
Mooney (New Albany, Ohio/Wyoming Seminary) assisted on the goal. As the
momentum seemed to shift in the Bears favor, Steele-Norton struck again,
scoring on a blast from the right point on the power play. At 15:34, Megan
Myers scored on a breakaway, tucking puck just between the crossbar and
right shoulder for senior goalie Jen Conophy (Glenmont, N.Y./Albany Ice
Cats). Potsdam had several strong scoring opportunities, but Hamel was
able to make timely saves and the Pioneer defense cleared the rebounds.
Despite the Utica goals, Conophy was especially sharp in the middle
stanza. The senior easily handled three other breakaway opportunities.
The teams traded penalties throughout the period. On Utica’s final power
play, Reed tapped home the end of a pretty passing play to cap the scoring
at 5-1.
Conophy, the Bears all-time wins leader, finished her career with 20
saves. Pioneer goalie Jennifer Hamel earned her 10th victory of the season
with 23 saves. Utica was 2-5 on the man-advantage and Potsdam was 1-5.
The contest marked the end of careers of Bears seniors Conophy, Katie
Komsa (Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario/Sault Ste. Marie AA Midget), Brittany
Westlake (Georgetown, Ontario/Brampton Thunder) and Nadine Cunningham
(Bow, N.H./St. Mark’s Prep).
