HAMILTON – Behind goals from four different Raiders, the No. 5 Colgate women's hockey team defeated No. 8/9 Clarkson in a nonconference matchup by a score of 4-2. With the win, the Raiders improve to 11-3-1 on the season.
Senior Malia Schneider scored the game-winning goal, which was the 50th of her career and her 95th career point. With the goal, Schneider moves into 10th place in career goals scored.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first period saw the Raiders getting lots of shots in the offensive zone. Colgate had two penalties throughout the first period, but the Raiders went 2-for-2 on the penalty kill to keep the Golden Knights off the board. A hooking penalty on Clarkson created more offensive momentum for the Raiders, and while the Golden Knights dabbled the puck in their defensive zone, sophomore Kaitlyn O'Donohoe capitalized on a turnover before backhanding the puck to the top shelf to lift Colgate to a 1-0 lead. With their strong start and offensive pressure, the Raiders were outshooting Clarkson by a 10-3 margin.
In a choppy start to the second period, it was a back-and-forth for both teams with each getting multiple shots on goal. At the 9:04 mark of the second period, first-year
Kalty Kaltounkova's deflected shot was scooped up by junior
Noemi Neubauerova for the sought-after second goal of the game, however, just 1:49 later Clarkson answered by cutting the lead to 2-1 with a goal of its own.
With the scoring not yet finished in the second session,
Malia Schneider scored her 50th career goal off a wraparound by
Danielle Serdachny to give the Raiders the 3-1 lead headed into the final period.
The third period featured Clarkson beginning to pressure the offensive zone and at the 10:40 mark of the period, the Golden Knights made it a one-goal game yet again at 3-2. As the clock ran down, Clarkson pulled its goaltender, which gave junior
Taylor Kirwan the opportunity to pass to sophomore
Sammy Smigliani to chip the shot into the empty net to extend the Raiders lead to 4-2. Even with some penalty calls late in regulation, the Raiders were able to hold off Clarkson's final push with a 6-on-4 advantage to finish off with a 4-2 victory.
COLGATE SCORING PLAYS
• Period 1 | 5:43 Sophomore
Kaitlyn O'Donohoe capitalized on a turnover in the offensive zone and flipped a back-handed goal to the top shelf.
• Period 2 | 9:04 From the point, junior
Tanner Gates passed down low to the crease to first-year
Kalty Kaltounkova. After Kaltounkova landed it on net, junior
Noemi Neubauerova cleaned up the rebound with a scoop past the pad.
• Period 2 | 18:47 Senior
Malia Schneider's first shot low in the slot was saved, but sophomore
Danielle Serdachny cleaned up the deflected shot and wrapped it back around to Schneider, who one-timed it from the right side by sneaking it in the near post.
• Period 3 | 18:42 After Clarkson pulled its goaltender, junior
Taylor Kirwan skated up the center of the ice and passed the puck to sophomore
Sammy Smigliani on the right side who chipped it into the empty net from the top of the circle.
STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
• With her game-winning goal, senior
Malia Schneider tallied the 50th of her career, which moves her into 10th on the all-time career goals list.
• With both players notching one goal and one assist in the last two games, sophomore
Sammy Smigliani and junior
Noemi Neubauerova both started a two-game point streak.
• First-year
Kayle Osborne recorded 23 saves in the contest, with a game-high 13 saves in the third period.
• Behind a goal and an assist, Smigliani also recorded her first multi-point night of the season and eighth of her career.
• Strong in the circle, Neubauerova won a team-high 77.8 percent of faceoffs while the Raiders won 61.4 percent of their total faceoffs.
• Colgate held Clarkson scoreless on the power play, forcing the Golden Knights to go 0-for-3. It marks the 10th time in the season's 15 games, and fourth consecutive game, that the Raiders have held their opponent scoreless on the power play.
• The Raiders had continued offensive pressure throughout the game as they outshot Clarkson 36-25.
• Colgate tied its season-high of goals with four, which last happened when the Raiders defeated Clarkson 4-1 on Jan. 16.
• The Raiders have played Clarkson nine times so far this season and have gone 5-3-1 over that stretch.
THE BOTTOM LINE
• No. 5 Colgate 4, No. 8/9 Clarkson 2
RECORD UPDATES
• No. 5 Colgate holds a 11-3-1 record and is 6-2-0 in ECAC Hockey play.
• No. 8/9 Clarkson is now 7-6-1 overall and has a conference record of 3-3-0.
HEAD COACH GREG FARGO'S TAKE
"I'm happy for our players. They played hard, played within our identity and came out with the result they wanted against a tough opponent.
"We had to stay focused all game because Clarkson can be a threat off the rush. I thought we did a nice job doing a lot of little things well, especially in the offensive zone.
"We've played that team a lot and I'd bet both coaches would say because of it our teams have grown a lot this year. Today was a good indication of how we can play, but we're far from a finished product and we are looking forward to playing again on Sunday."
UP NEXT
The Raiders take on No. 8/9 Clarkson in the final game of the nonconference series at 4 p.m. Sunday in Potsdam, N.Y. It marks the 10th and final matchup between the in-state rivals in the regular season.
FOLLOW THE RAIDERS
For more information on the Colgate women's hockey program, follow the Raiders on Twitter @ColgateWIH and Instagram at colgatewih.
