BY RANDY SCHULTZ –
AMHERST, NY – Holly Schmelzer scored a natural hat trick Monday night to lead the Williamsville (WM) girls hockey team past Clarence/Amherst/Sweet Home (CASH), 6-2, Monday night at Northtown Center’s Feature Rink. It was the second semifinal game of the evening for the Western New York Girls Varsity Ice Hockey Federation (WNYGVIHF) playoffs.
Both teams came out flying in the opening period with four goals, two from each team, being scored within the first five minutes. Kelly Dormer opened the scoring for WM, with Amanda Gaffney and Jenna Piotrowski assisting.
WM made it 2-0 less than a minute later with Rachel Juneau scoring an unassisted goal. But CASH came back less than a minute later to cut the WM lead in half on a goal by Charleigh Rondeau, with Emma Faso assisting.
CASH tied the game, 2-2, at 4:45 with Faso scoring an unassisted goal. It was all WM after that.
Just 4:22 into the second period Gaffney scored to give WM a 3-2 lead. Ten minutes later Schmelzer tallied her first goal of the game with Kaylee Conover and Juneau assisting.
It was all WM and Gaffney in the third period. Jenna Woods, Ella Huntley and Juneau assisted on the two Gaffney goals.
WM and CASH each had 22 shots on goal.
WM will now face Frontier/Lakeshore/Orchard Park (FLOP) in the WNYGVIHF championship game on Wednesday, Feb. 7 at the Northtown Center. Game time will be 8 p.m.
NOTES: Schmelzer should have had a fourth goal. Early in the second period, with WM leading, 2-0, Schmelzer had a breakaway and clearly beat CASH goalie Hannah Barrett. The only problem is that both on-ice officials missed the goal. But Channels 4 and 7 who were covering the game, clearly recorded it on their cameras. Unfortunately, play continued. Both stations reviewed their videos and the goal was clearly scored. Video replay is not used in WNYGVIHF games. Fortunately, the non-call did not effect the outcome of the game.
