After a long break in between games, the women’s ice hockey club took to their home ice once more last Saturday night, when they faced off against the University of Maryland, beating them 5-2.
After back-to-back losses against the University of Delaware, West Chester was eager to get back to the ice and win some more games. This was evident by their fast action as soon as the puck dropped in the beginning of the first period.
West Chester came out strong by trying to get the puck into Maryland’s zone early. Maryland was quicker on the forecheck when they made an attempt on goal six minutes into the period, but the West Chester defense was on it by keeping the puck out of the crease.
Despite this, they were still having a hard time getting the puck out of their zone, as Maryland’s offense continued to push at the net. Goaltender Aly Golia kept her composure as she continued to make saves and kept Maryland’s players from scoring. Even so, West Chester was struggling to keep returning the play back into their opponents’ zone.
Maryland was granted the first power play opportunity at the 11th minute of play, but West Chester was quick to kill this off and protect their zone. Maryland received another power play, and still Golia held her own with back-to-back saves. During one of these saves, the net was even dislodged, but play was never stopped, and Golia kept her composure by covering the puck.
West Chester started to build up more momentum during the last few minutes of the first period. They were able to gain the lead in the game by scoring the first goal of the game just seconds before the first period ended.
In the second period, there was a lot of action on and off the ice. West Chester was on the forecheck early when forward Allison Smith scored the second goal of the game. They were even awarded their first power play opportunity at the 15th minute of play, but Maryland remained on the penalty kill.
There was actually an unofficial break during the second period when a West Chester and Maryland player were laid out on the ice. During this, an argument between rival parents ensued regarding the referees not making the right calls. The argument got so heated that a physical fight broke out between two fathers within the bleachers. Noticing that something was going on off the ice, the whistle was blown and the referees conversed with both of the hockey teams for five minutes. After all the commotion died down, play returned at center ice and no penalties were called.
Maryland was on the forecheck after the face-off scoring their first goal of the game in an attempt to come back. West Chester tried to retaliate by keeping play in Maryland’s zone and had a few good attempts at scoring. Forward Becky Dobson was penalized for poking at the net when she was trying to get the puck past rival goalie Adriane Faust. After her two minutes out of the game was up, Dobson came back to take on Faust one on one by scoring an unassisted goal a few minutes later.
Not to be outdone, Maryland came back to West Chester’s post with a second unassisted goal of the game, in an attempt to close the scoring gap late in the second period. The goal preceded the end of the second period by only a few seconds.
The third period started with West Chester still having the lead in the game by 3-2. Still the deficit was only by one goal, so West Chester was still aggressive on the forecheck. West Chester scored a fourth goal of the game towards the beginning of the period, and attempted to keep the puck in Maryland’s zone as much as possible.
West Chester had widened the scoring gap even more after a Maryland penalty allowed them the player advantage. Defenseman Amanda Vito gained the benefit of this player advantage as she scored the power play goal.
WCU was able to stand their ground and defend the net, as they came off with the 5-2 victory.
Deanna Vasso is a fourth-year student majoring in English with a minor in creative writing. She can be reached at DV670502@wcupa.edu.