Women’s Hockey Sweeps Hawks In Buffalo

BUFFALO, NY. – On Friday, January 19th and Saturday, January 20th the Anna Maria College women's hockey team traveled to Buffalo, NY to take on the Hilbert College Hawks. The AMCATS won both games 7-2 and 8-1.

Game One: The AMCATS started things out early in the first period as Julia Ballinger scored Anna Marias first goal of the night just five minutes into the game. It was just under ten minutes later that Carly Drew would find the back of the net for the AMCATS second goal to make it a 2-0 game. Shortly thereafter, Olympia Myers managed a short handed goal for the AMCATS as they took a 3-0 lead over the Hawks as the first period came to a close.

The Hawks came out quick in the second period and broke the ice as they scored just over three minutes into the period off the stick of Brooke Kwiecien. However the AMCATS would quickly break any of Hilbert's momentum as Samantha Rodriguez scored a power play goal just a minute later to give the AMCATS back their three goal lead. Nearly ten minutes later, Rodriguez scored her second goal of the night to increase Anna Marias lead to 5-1 with less than 6 minutes left to play in the second period. Despite leading by four goals as the period came to a close, the Hawks kept fighting all the way to the end as Abby MacNeil scored with less than a minute on the clock to cut the AMCATS lead back to three.

Ceili Nolan kicked off the third period with a goal off the pass from Olympia Myers just under five minutes into the period. Leading 6-2 over the Hawks, the AMCATS would tack on a late insurance goal with less than fifty seconds left to play, off the stick of Chloe Becher giving Anna Maria the 7-2 win over the Hawks for game one of their roadtrip to Buffalo.

Game Two: Much like their first game of the weekend, the AMCATS kicked things off early with a goal just five minutes into the game only this time that goal came off the stick of Isabella Delordo. The AMCATS kept the momentum rolling throughout the first period as they tuck in two goals late in the period. The first of which came from Carissima Heinis off a pass from Abigail Vigliotte with a little under six minutes left in the period. Almost three minutes later, Shayla MacDonald buried the AMCATS third goal of the day giving them the quick 3-0 lead to start the game.

The second period would start off slow with no goals scored within the first ten minutes. However it would be the Hawks who struck first in the second period as Kaitlin Cowie buried Hilbert's first goal of the night. Just three minutes later, Shayla Macdonald found the back of the net for her second goal of the day on the power play. Almost four minutes later August Otto scored the AMCATS fifth goal of the day making it a 5-1 game with less than two minutes left to play in the second period. The AMCATS weren't finished there however as Heinis managed to score two more goals in the span of forty seconds to end the second period with a score of 7-1 in favor of the AMCATS.

The third period would be rather uneventful as the Hawks were unable to find the back of the net thanks to Kelsey Kowal who stopped all nine shots faced in the third period to help secure her first win in her first career NCAA start. The AMCATS would end the game with a score of 8-1 after Jordyn Bleaney tucked in one last goal for the weekend.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Kelsey Kowal earned her first career win in her first career NCAA start.
• The sweep marks the AMCATS 6th and 7th wins of the season breaking their record for wins in a season.
• This marks the AMCATS first time playing the Hawks.
• The two wins for the AMCATS mark the two highest scoring games for the women's hockey program in NCAA play since their start in 2018-2019.

WHAT'S NEXT: 

The AMCATS will be back in action on Friday, February 2nd where they will travel to North Adams, MA to take on the MCLA Trailblazers at the Peter W. Foote Vietnam Veterans Memoriam Rink. Opening puck drop is set for 6:00pm.

STAY CONNECTED:

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