Box Score ROCHESTER, NY - The Utica University women's hockey team travelled to the Tim Horton Iceplex in Rochester to take on the #7/6-ranked Nazareth Golden Flyers, falling by a score of 3-1. The hosts applied continuous pressure, more than doubling the Pioneers' shot on goal total, but strong goaltending kept the orange and blue in the game. The teams will travel to Utica for a rematch tomorrow.
Kendall Best (Troy, MI/Troy High School) notched Utica's lone score of the game. Her goal came off a
Maya Jerome (Belleville, MI/) shot rebound, crediting the sophomore defender with her fourth assist of the season. Best additionally led the Pioneers with four shots on goal, followed by Jerome (three) as the only other Utica player with more than two.
Alex Venning (Courtice, ON/) played between the pipes for the orange and blue, turning away 38 of 40 shots she was tasked with.
Six separate Golden Flyers ended with at least one point, with only one player tallying a second. Amy Laskowski netted two goals, with Logan Marchese scoring the first of the game. Nazareth's four assists were split between Ella Konrad, Sydney Gurlea, Nikki Sharp, and Marina McCann. Mia Gonsalves manned the crease for the home squad, saving all but one of the 18 shots on goal by Utica.
Marchese opened the scoring in the game just 30 seconds before the first intermission. Both teams battled for possession in a scrum in the Nazareth defensive zone, with the puck being knocked out by McCann. Marchese received the puck, chipping it up the boards and forcing a one-on-one with the Utica defender. She pushed the outside hard, crossing the goal crease and beating the goalie on the backhand.
Best responded with a tying goal for Utica at 14:06 into the second period. She won a faceoff draw in the offensive zone back to Jerome, who fired a shot from the blue line. Best boxed out her defender, knocking home a rebound that dropped in the open space in front of her.
Laskowski scored her UCHC-leading 20th goal of the season just 1:23 later, retaking the lead for Nazareth and pocketing the eventual game-winning goal. A quick counterattack was mounted by the Golden Flyers, led by a banked pass out of the zone by Konrad, which was received by Sharp in the neutral zone. Sharp carried the puck into the offensive zone, knocking the puck to Laskowski, who netted a spinning shot from the middle of the zone.
The Golden Flyers netted an empty net insurance goal with just 56 seconds remaining in the game. Utica was attempting to clear their defensive zone with the extra attacker, but an elevated pass was blocked by Nazareth's Gurlea at the blue line. The puck bounced to just the right spot for Laskowski, who quickly directed home her second of the game to seal a home team victory.
The Pioneers will return to the Nexus Center tomorrow afternoon in a 3:00 pm-scheduled rematch with Nazareth. Utica's next home game beyond tomorrow will come on Friday, the 6th, when first-year program St. John Fisher University comes to town in a matchup set for 4:00 pm.
