Women's Hockey Goes 1-1 Over Weekend

Women's Hockey Goes 1-1 Over Weekend

Simon Pierpont

Assistant Sports Editor

sp1025@plymouth.edu

Captain Kelsey Lynch looks to win faceoff against UNE.

CLOCK PHOTO/ELIZABETH BARDEN

The Plymouth State Women’s Ice Hockey team played in two New England Hockey Conference games this weekend. The Panthers claimed the first game against the University of New England with an overtime win at home on Friday evening. On Saturday, the team travelled to Norwich, but weren’t able to bring home the victory.

On Friday, the action on the ice was back and forth between PSU and UNE. The Panthers got on the board first with a quick wrist shot through the goalie’s pads by senior Kelsey Lynch (Collegeville, P.A.) at 13:58 in the first period. The Nor’easters answered with their own goal from freshman Julianne Sheehan in the last minute of the period, which tied the score at 1-1 going into the second.

PSU was held off for most of the second period until the 17:33 mark when a shot by freshman Kelsey Roy (Ft. Collins, C.O.) rebounded to junior Lauren Connelly (Braintree, M.A.) and she swiped it into the net. This gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead going into the third period.

UNE wasted no time in the third, evening the score at 2-2 in the first four minutes of play. The Panthers were able to keep them out of the net for the remainder of the third and sent the game into overtime. The extra period was short-lived, as sophomore Shannon Hickey (Arlington, M.A.) lifted a backhander over the shoulder of UNE’s junior goalie, Sydney Helmbrecht, just three minutes into overtime. The final score was 3-2.

Freshman goalkeeper Emilie Lindqvist (Gullerason, Sweden) took the win in the net for Plymouth, stopping 27 shots. Helmbrecht had 20 saves for UNE.

At Norwich on Saturday afternoon, the Cadets pulled out to an early lead with two goals in the first period. Freshman Jess Piracino netted one at 6:17 and classmate Bryn Labbe scored an unassisted goal at 14:07.

The Panthers came out looking for the comeback in the second. PSU was able to get on the board with a power play goal by sophomore Courtney Evans (Fairbanks, A.K.) with an assist by junior Haley Branovan (Canandaigua, N.Y.) at 17:31. This brought the Panthers within a goal of the Cadets, but that’s as close as they would get. Norwich secured the win with two more goals in the third period, making the final score 4-1.

Junior goaltender Alyssa Altschuler (Cheshire, C.T.) made 10 saves while giving up just a single goal for PSU in the first 14 minutes before Lindqvist came in for the remainder of the game and recorded 26 saves. Norwich’s goalie junior Celeste Robert made 10 saves for the win.

After the weekend, the Panthers are 2-4 overall and 2-2 in the NEHC. PSU is back on the road on Friday, as they travel to Holy Cross for an away conference match beginning at 7:05 p.m.