WOMEN’S HOCKEY
NEW KENSINGTON, Pa. — The Chatham women’s hockey team took the ice Wednesday for a makeup game with the Neumann Knights. Unfortunately, like their previous meeting with the Knights, the Cougars were on the wrong side of a 3-0 score.
The Cougars started strong but were kept in check with strong goaltending from Neumann’s Helen Cooney, who faced 15 shots in the opening frame. Kerry Carr lead all skaters with 4 shots, followed by Jillian Rowland, Sydney Collins and Dahea Chung who all put two on the net. It was all for naught, as the two teams remained scoreless after one.
The play changed in the second as the Knights came alive, firing 15 shots on Devon Strachan. The first goal of the game came on the power-play at the 11:50 mark when the Knights Braeden Ott took a sharp angle shot that snuck under the five-hole of the neminder. Jennie Piotrzkowski attempted to pull it off the goal line but the official, who happened to not have a clear view, indicated it had crossed the line. The Cougars argued their case, but this controversial goal would stand, upsetting the entire Cougars coaching staff.
The Cougars needed to regain their composure but Neumann added another goal 1:27 later. Like the first, this one was also controversial. It would start with a scramble in front the net with Strachan stopping the shot as bodies piled on top of her. As Rowland was checking on Strachan to make sure she was alright to continue, the puck was dropped and Jackie Schneider beat Strachan before she could react.
As the The Knights maintained their momentum in the third as the Cougars failed to capture their momentum from the first. Neumann added another goal at the midway point when Katelyn Brown ripped the puck over the blocker of Strachan.
The Cougars outshot the Knights 33 to 28 as their record falls to 7-16-0 overall and 4-12-0 in conference.
The Cougars return to action this weekend when they take on Manhattanville in a two-game set. The Valiants come in to the series at 14-7-2 overall and 10-5-1 in conference. Puck drop on Friday will be at 7:10 p.m. while Saturday’s game will get underway at 3:00 p.m. The Cougars honor their four seniors Kristina Block of Scarborough, Maine; Michelle Jones of Scarborough, Ontario; Jillian Rowland of St Louis, Missouri; and KJ Frost of Harvard, Massachusetts before puck drop on Saturday
MEN’S HOCKEY
RICHLAND TWP., Pa. — The Chatham Men’s hockey team found tough sledding at home, losing 5-1 to Utica on Friday before falling to Nazareth 8-2 on Saturday.
In Friday’s game, Chatham once again turned to Freshman net minder Ricardo Gonzalez who went on to face a lot of rubber over the 60 minutes of play. With just 3:48 left in the period, Utica found themselves on a two on one and Shawn Lynch slid a backhand pass to Gregg Burmaster who ripped it past Gonzalez. In all, the Pioneers fired 13 shots on net in the frame.
Utica came out flying in the second and added to their lead just 31 second in. Like the first goal, Burmaster and Lynch came in on a two on one, but instead of passing Lynch shot one that beat the glove of Gonzalez making it 2-0 Utica. That early goal gave Utica all the momentum as the Pioneers would apply constant pressure on the Cougars, and at one point they were in the offensive end for over three minutes. The Cougars withstood the storm, drawing a penalty in the process.The Pioneers ended up taking advantage of the situation as Brett Everson beat Gonzalez on a breakaway to make it 3-0.
The Cougars answered the Pioneers in the third as Dan Bellafiore took a pass from Gonzalez and rushed the other way and ripped it past Gianluca Baggetta making it 3-1 just 6:22 into the period. Gonzalez was credited with an assist on the goal, his first career collegiate point. Five minutes later Utica regained the three goal lead when Tyler Dill scored on another odd man rush. The Cougars continued to push in the third, throwing a total of 20 shots on goal in the period, but were unable to beat Baggetta. Utica added an empty netter with just 17 seconds left, resulting the 5-1 final. Gonzalez stopped 36-of-40 in the loss.
Game two featured a match-up with the Nazareth College Golden Flyers, a team that had already defeated the Cougars 4-1 on in a game played in New York. Chatham honored their four seniors: John Ryan of Wake Forest, North Carolina; Forward Clay Plyler of Manor, Pennsylvania; Defenseman Matthew Ho of Vancouver, British Columbia; and forward Dan Bellafiore of Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey.
The Cougars turned to Sophomore Matt Calas, who started his first game of the season against Nazareth on November 30th. The Golden Flyers came out flying, firing 15 shots on Calas in the first period. Only one beat the net-minder at the 9:07 mark when Meto Capriotti deflected the JR Wojciechowski shot past Calas.
Like a replay of the game against Utica, the Cougars gave up an early second period tally. After Brad Pizzey was knocked over in the slot, Wojciechowski placed one off the skate of Pizzey, beating Calas to double the lead. Two minutes later, the Cougars found themselves on the power-play, and Freshman Brett Reed sniped one past Michael Tilford for his first collegiate goal, cutting the lead to one. The Cougars looked to be back in the game, but instead Nazareth took over, scoring two more goals in the next 13 minutes to make it 4-1 at the end of two.
Nazareth maintained momentum and added four goals in the third, three of which were on the power-play. Chatham took one last crack at scoring with a late power-play opportunity. Head coach Michael Callan decided to put the four seniors on the ice at once, and the four received an ovation from the Cougar bench. They would not disappoint as Bellafiore scored his second goal in as many games, giving him goals in his final three home games at the Frozen Pond. Assisting on the goal were two other Cougar seniors, Ho and Plyler.
With the weekend sweep the Cougars drop to 5-16-2 overall and 3-12-1 in conference. The Cougars wrap up the 2018-2019 season on the road. On Friday they visit the Lebanon Valley Flying Dutchman in the historic Hersheypark Arena and then travel 3.5 hours north to take on Elmira Soaring Eagles on Saturday.
