CHATHAM WOMEN’S
WILKES BARRE, Pa. — The Lady Cougars hit the road to take on the King’s College Monarchs, picking up a pair of conference wins by scores of 5-0 on Friday night and 4-1 on Saturday.
The Cougars turned to red-hot junior goaltender Devon Strachan who picked up wins in two of the last three weekends. Chatham got on the board early as Danielle Bos scored her second of the season with assists from Jillian Rowland and Kristina Block.
The Cougars peppered former Penguins Elite goaltender Emma Zeveney with numerous shots, but the sophomore stood strong. Rowland scored her team leading ninth goal of the season making it 2-0 just before the break.
Cougar Sydney Collins kept the momentum going in the second, scoring her fifth goal of the season just 20 seconds into the period. Kristina Block’s assist, her third of the game, was her 50th career point. Zeveney went on to stop the next 22 shots she faced. Strachan was perfect through two, tallying 19 saves.
The Cougars continued to pressure King’s, and with just over eight minutes left in the game Kerry Carr increased the Cougar lead to four. Rowland picked up her third point of the evening on the goal. Junior Madison Black made it 5-0 with just 1:24 left in the game. The Cougars registered 61 shots in the victory as Strachan made 27 saves to pick up her first collegiate shutout.
Strachan started her sixth straight game on Saturday with the hope of picking up her fifth win. The Cougars came out flying as Collins scored her sixth of the season just one minute into the game. The Kings would answer with just over three minutes left in the first period, Maggie Gould tied the game at one, ending Strachan’s shutout streak at 76:29. The Cougars regained the lead before the horn sounded as Bos picked up her second of the weekend.
Both goalies were perfect in the second with Strachan stopping all seven shots while Kings goaltender Kiva Sierra Stolz went 16-for-16, keeping it 2-1 Chatham. The Cougars were determined to break her in the third, throwing 26 shots on net. The hard work paid off as Collins scored her seventh of the season just 4:56 in. The Cougars continued to pressure Kings and with just under five minutes to play, senior Kristina Block finally put one in the back of the net for her sixth point of the weekend. Chatham closed out the final five minutes with ease, earning their second straight win and third win in their last four games. Strachan made 14 saves in the victory.
Chatham improved to 7-13 overall and 4-9 in conference. The Cougars have a stiff test this weekend as they hit the road to face the number one ranked team in the country, the Elmira Soaring Eagles. Elmira comes into the game with a 15-2-1 overall record and 11-0 in conference play.
CHATHAM MEN’S
RICHLAND TWP., Pa. — The men found themselves in a weekend tangle with the first and last place teams in the UCHC conference, as the Cougars gave first place Wilkes all they could handle, falling 1-0 and bouncing back strong on Saturday, defeating the King’s College Monarchs 4-0.
Friday’s matchup at the Frozen Pond saw the Cougars turn to returning freshman Ricardo Gonzalez. The Cougars played their best hockey in that first period outshooting Wilkes 8-6. Both Wilkes goaltender Brandon Gordon and Gonzalez were up to the task. The first place Colonels adjusted in the second and outshot Chatham 18-5 and Gonzalez continued to shine for the Cougars. Wilkes finally got on the board when Angelo Marquart ripped one past the glove of Gonzalez, off the post, and in the back of the net making it 1-0 Wilkes.
As the third period started, the Cougars could smell their second home ice upset of the season- but Wilkes had other ideas. Both teams traded chances in the period, but neither goalie would crack as Wilkes would avoid the upset with their 1-0 win. In the game, Gonzalez would make 32 saves in the loss.
In game two, the Cougars went back to the freshman Gonzalez when they took on the Kings Monarchs. Coming into the game, Chatham held a 3-0 lifetime record against the Monarchs and looked to make it 4-0. The Cougars got the scoring started just 4:05 into the first period as Cory King rifled one past the glove of King’s goalie Brandon Daigle for his fifth of the season. The Cougars did not stop there as senior Dan Bellafiore wristed a shot under the glove and above the pad of Daigle for his first career goal at the 13:23 mark of the first, giving his team a 2-0 lead.
Both teams had their chances in the first ten minutes of the second, but Daigle and Gonzalez both shut the door. The Cougars finally broke through for their third goal of the evening as freshman Tristian Simm found the back of the net. It appeared Daigle had stopped the shot, but it trickled through the five-hole and barely over to the goal line to make it 3-0 Cougars. As the second period drew to a close the Cougars found themselves on the power-play, and Michael Lamison collected a rebound and scored top-shelf, increasing the Cougars lead to four with just 5.9 seconds remaining in the period.
The third period saw increased physicality as the two second-year programs found themselves in several scrums, including Chatham goaltender Ricardo Gonzalez, who received a roughing penalty. No matter how hard the Monarchs tried to rattle the young net-minder he did not budge, stopping all 11 shots in the period to register the first individual shutout in Chatham program history. Gonzalez made 29 saves in the shutout and stopped 61-of-62 pucks on the weekend for a .984 save percentage.
Chatham’s record stands at 5-12-2 overall and 3-8-1 in conference. The Cougars hit the road this weekend, traveling to New York on Friday to take on Manhattanville. The Cougars lost to Valients 5-0 on Nov. 17 at Frozen Pond. The Cougars travel south to Aston on Saturday to play Neumann. The Cougars and Knights played to a 1-1 tie on Jan. 13 at Pittsburgh Ice Arena.
