(Schenectady, NY – Feb. 22, 2013) Heading into Friday’s game the Colgate women’s hockey team needed to score one more goal than the Dutchwomen in order to keep its playoff hopes alive and that’s exactly what they did, when they defeated Union 2-1 Friday night.
“It was great to see our power play come through for us tonight,” head coach Greg Fargo said. “I thought we had some good looks and finally we were able to find the net when it counted.”
Colgate (10-19-3, 5-13-3 ECAC) notched two goals in the final two periods after the Dutchwomen had taken the early 1-0 lead. Senior captain Jenna Klynstra tied the game at the 17:21 mark in the middle frame and Taylor Volpe added the game-winner, 18:28 into the final period to secure the win.
“It was a frustrating game at times but we pushed through it,” Fargo added. “We found ourselves in more penalty trouble than we wanted. Our penalty kill was awesome and our special teams play played a big part in tonight’s win.”
The Raiders outshot the Dutchwomen 27-22 overall and killed off five power play attempts. Rookie Ashlynne Rando made 21 saves including 12 in the middle frame to grab her eighth win of the season.
“Overall, again, it was a great team effort and I’m happy we got rewarded there at the end,” Fargo said. “We’re excited to play RPI tomorrow and we’ll be playing to win.”
Union (7-22-4, 0-17-4 ECAC) tallied the games first score, at the 12:57 mark in the opening period, thanks to a Courtney Turner power play goal. Bryanne Panchuck and Kelly McGrath were award assists on the play. Shenae Lundberg pushed aside 25 Raider shots in the loss.
The Dutchwomen got on the board first scoring in the initial period, taking the 1-0 lead. Union converted on a power play opportunity after the Raiders were called for having too many players on the ice. Turner slid one past Rando for her sixth goal of the year, 12:57 into the period.
The Raiders tried to equalize off a man up opportunity a few minutes later when Union was called for hooking. Colgate fired off two shots by Klynstra and one from Katie Case, but all were stopped by Lundberg, keeping her shutout alive.
With 2:39 remaining in the middle frame, the Raiders were able to grab the tying goal, when Klynstra placed the puck between the legs of Lundberg. Phillips made a pass over to fellow teammate Klynstra for her sixth goal of the season, knotting the score at one a piece.
In the final closing minutes of the third period Volpe notched the game-winning goal for the Raiders, giving them their fifth league win this season. Case and Jocelyn Simpson teamed up to find Volpe, who fired one past the Union netminder for the one-goal advantage with 1:32 left in the period.
With the win Colgate stays in the hunt for the last ECAC playoff spot. The Raiders need a win tomorrow (Saturday) against Rensselaer and a loss/tie from Princeton, who faces Yale in order to secure the last playoff position. The game with the Engineers is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. Yale welcomes Princeton tomorrow (Saturday) at 4 p.m.
