WILKES-BARRE, PA – The Wilkes University women's ice hockey squad (1-1, 1-1 UCHC) pulled past the Neumann University Knights (1-3, 1-1) after a power play goal in the third period, and withstood a late Knights barrage fueled by an empty net and a power play to take home a 3-2 victory.
Sophomore forward Rachel Morey wasted no time putting the Colonels on the board, putting home a goal off of the Colonels very first shot at 00:11 with an assist from senior forward Kendall Castro. Junior forward Julie Patterson also found help from Castro on her power play goal at 12:01 in the first to give the Colonels a 2-0 edge.
The second period was a Knights' period, as they finally took advantage of a power play opportunity at 10:24 to get on the board, and put home an even strength goal at 16:28 to tie it up 2-2 into the third. Junior forward Abby Davis would find the game-winner at 11:49 into the third period with a power play goal with help from Patterson and senior defender Valerie Koenig.
The Knights had plenty of time left to find opportunities to send the game into overtime. A breakaway shot with 17:20 left in the period was stopped by senior goaltender Allyson Joly, who then recorded another critical save at 18:36 to force the Knights to go to an empty net. Morey stepped up to the plate to shut down the Knights remaining hopes of a victory, recording back-to-back faceoff victories in front of Joly before the Knights ended up in a 6-on-4 scenario with a power play and without a goaltender in net.
Morey would extend her critical streak of faceoff wins to four in a row after the penalty, allowing the Colonels to effectively ice the game by keeping the puck away from the Knights.
The Knights went one for seven on power play opportunities while the Colonels took advantage of their four opportunities, scoring on two. Joly recorded 41 saves and had 33 after two periods of play in the victory, while the critical faceoffs in the endgame gave the Colonels a 34-33 edge in faceoff victories in the game.
The Colonels look to build upon their 1-1 start as they travel to Rochester, N.Y. next weekend for a pair of games against Nazareth College. Puck drop for the Friday affair is at 7:00 p.m., while the second game of the series starts next Saturday at 2:00 p.m. The Navy and Gold are 0-4 in program history against the Golden Flyers.