UTICA, NY - Utica University's women's hockey team played host to the William Smith College Herons, falling to the visitors by a score of 2-0. With the result, the women's hockey team finishes its preseason slate 1-1. The squad will begin their regular season with a road game against Cortland next weekend.
Despite the final result not going their way, the Pioneers still saw an incredible performance in net.
Alex Venning (Courtice, ON/) played the first two periods of the game, saving all but one of the 25 shots on goal by the Herons.
Katherine Sheahan (Oak Lawn, IL/) entered for the start of the 3rd period, saving all six shots on goal that occurred with her on the ice.
Maya Jerome (Belleville, MI/),
Olivia Marcinkowski (Peabody, MA/), and
Cate Hart (Norfolk, MA/Proctor Academy) led Utica in shots on goal, which each recording three.
William Smith scored twice in the contest, one of them on an empty net. Lilly Relyea scored the early, and eventually game-winning, goal, with Ainsley Lonczak shutting the door at the end of the game. Relyea's score was assisted by Caeley McCormick and Anna Tardiff. Fiona Gallagher and Bella Hacker were credited with assists on Lonczak's empty-netter. The Herons played a different goalie in each period of the combined shutout. Mia Iwicki led William Smith with 11 saves, followed by Julia Chase with eight, and Julia Echavarria with four.
The visitors scored first in the 1st period. A strong forecheck by the Herons allowed McCormick to control the puck in the offensive zone, shooting toward the net, and getting a deflection in by Relyea. Lonczak's closer came with 11 seconds left. William Smith won a faceoff in their defensive zone, with Lonczak carrying the puck to the red line and dumping the puck into the empty net from the neutral zone.
The Pioneers will begin their season with a road match against SUNY Cortland next weekend, with the game scheduled to begin at 1:00 pm on Sunday, November 2nd. Utica will return to the Nexus Center the following weekend for game two of a home-and-home against Oswego State. Their home half, and regular season home opener, will begin at 3:00 pm on Saturday, the 8th.
