NEW KENSINGTON, PA — Chatham’s memorable season came to an end with a 4-1 loss to the visiting Nazareth Golden Flyers in their UCHC semifinals matchup at Pittsburgh Ice Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Just days after securing the first home postseason game in club history and parlaying it into their first postseason victory ever, the Cougars couldn’t withstand a ferocious Golden Flyers attack and were suppressed by an equally impressive defensive effort by the visitors.
Nazareth began their assault on the Cougars early as Van Stralen fired an innocent shot on net that beat Cougars starter Katy Reed at 10:56 of the first period. The Golden Flyers increased the pressure on Chatham as the period progressed, but the Cougars were able to bounce back with several opportunities at the end of the frame.
Chatham looked to be gaining momentum in the early portions of the second frame but Van Stralen found a puck, and fired it home to made it 2-0 Nazareth at the 3:01 mark. Madison Nichols high-rising shot found the back of the cage 3:20 later to give the Golden Flyers a three-goal lead.
The final frame saw both squads battle and get opportunities and with a power-play and the goalie pulled Lauren Carmody scored to cut the lead to two. Mackenna Wiljanen scored on an empty net at 18:02 to cap the scoring.
Adrianna Brehm stopped 27-of-28 shots in the contest while Reed stopped 33-of-36.
PENALTY SHOT
15:24 2nd: Katy Reed stops (@Chatham_WIH) Kyla Thompson on a penalty shot. pic.twitter.com/UVVEvprBIu
— Mitch (@PHD_Mitch) April 3, 2021
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Nazareth will face Elmira in the UCHC Championship on Tuesday, April 6 in Pine Valley, NY.
