WILKES-BARRE, PA – The Wilkes women's ice hockey team secured their tenth-straight victory in dominant fashion, defeating Neumann University 5-0 in their UCHC tilt Saturday afternoon inside the Toyota SportsPlex. Colonels goaltender Audrey Milne pitched a 16-save shutout and added an assist to an impressive night for the Blue and Gold.
Wilkes improved to 16-1-1 on the season and 11-6-1 in UCHC contests. They currently hold fourth place in the conference standings with two games remaining in the regular season. Neumann fell to 4-17-2 overall and 0-16-2 in the UCHC.
Wilkes applied pressure on Neumann's defense right out of the gate, firing five shots on goal in the first six minutes of play. The Colonels drew a hooking call at 14:38 and immediately cashed in on the man advantage. Bella Kaczorowski lit the lamp at 15:03 with assists going out to Rissa Brazeau and Haylee Bouchard.
Wilkes continued to control the majority of play throughout the rest of the first and took their 1-0 lead into intermission. The Colonels outshot the Knights 18-6 in the first 20 minutes of play and won nine of 14 faceoffs.
Jordan Ferry opened the scoring in the middle frame, picking up a stretch pass from Milne and burying the puck to the back of the net. Milne picked up the lone assist, her first career point on the play at 4:30 of the second period.
Less than five minutes later, Haylee Bouchard built the lead up to three goals off a feed from Rachel Morey at 9:07. Bouchard's seventeenth goal of the season put her into a tie for the second-most goals in the conference.
The Colonels received their first penalty of the game at 15:00 for too many players on the ice. The penalty was served by senior forward Sarah Uhall.
Amanda Spreadbury got in on the action just five seconds into a Colonel power play when she ripped a shot past the Knights' goaltender at 17:38. Chayce Hynman and Ferry both picked up helpers on the 4-0 goal to give Wilkes a comfortable 4-0 lead heading into the intermission.
Wilkes rifled 13 shots on goal in the second period while only allowing three shots on Milne. The Colonels also outdrew Neumann 12-5 at the dot.
Wilkes continued to control possession and jam the neutral zone to make it difficult for Neumann to generate shots on net.
The Colonels were awarded a power play for tripping roughly three minutes into the final frame. While on the man advantage, Chayce Hynman fired a rocket of a shot past the Knights netminder to give Wilkes a 5-0 lead. Spreadbury and Tilly Wierdsma assisted on the third power play goal of the game at 5:12.
Wilkes was able to keep the puck away from Milne for the remainder of the game and took the contest 5-0.
The first year claimed her fourth shutout of the season behind a 16-save performance and also notched an assist in the victory. Ferry won 10 of 13 draws while she, Hyndman, Bouchard and Spreadbury all recorded two-point outings. Anneke Bouma, Abigail Barcless, Wierdsma and Bouchard all contributed defensively with blocks.
Kaila Booth led the Knights with three shots on goal. Gia Santorello, Emma Tauken and Kaylee Voss all recorded three blocks while Ella Sciborski made 38 saves in net.
The Colonels play their final road game of the regular season on Friday, February 16 when they visit Alvernia University. Puck drop against Golden Wolves is set for 3:00 p.m.