KEENE, N.H., – After a 6-1 win 14 hours before, the Keene State College women's ice hockey team hosted Hilbert College for the second day in a row, where the Owls dominated once again with a 7-2 win over the Hawks to cap their six games in nine-day stretch. 

Records

• Keene State: 12-7
• Hilbert: 0-13

How it Happened


After Makenna Montgomery opened the game strong with the Owls with a pair of saves, Ava Iantosca opened the scoring for KSC from an assist from Molly Price for a 1-0 lead, 6:44 into play. Over the next two minutes, the Owls continued to pester the Hawks' netminder, Tia Card, as she made six saves in net to go with three blocked shots from her defense. At 13:39 into the period, Hilbert had their best scoring chance of the period, but Montgomery saved the first shot against Izabelle Wagner but the follow up shot from Wagner went off the pipe as KSC held onto their one-goal lead. With 3:35 remaining in the first period, Emily Underhill won a faceoff in the offensive zone back to Haylee Owen, who send a pass across over to Caroline Demeo at the blue line. Demeo let a shot rip from inside the blue line that found the back of the net past Card, giving the Owls a two-goal lead on her first career collegiate goal. Card made three saves to round out the opening period as the Owls took their two-goal lead into the second.
 
Hilbert had the first power play opportunity in the game in the second period, 5:32 into it, but nothing came of it for the Hawks as both teams traded a shot on goal over the two-minute span. Card made four saves over the next 4:46, but she was unable to stop the fifth as Rory Owens sent a shot across the crease over to senior Madison Mosca for the Owls' third goal on the day. The rest of the 7:44 of the second period, Card made 19 more saves in net for the Hawks, including six of them coming over a two-minute span where the Owls were unable to convert on a power play opportunity. Iantosca's shot with 13 seconds remaining in the period rang off the post as KSC held on to a 3-0 lead heading into the final 20 minutes of play.
 
The flood gates opened in the final period as six goals were scored, making up two thirds of the goals scored in the entire game on the day. KSC continued to lay the pressure on Card, forcing her to make five saves in the first four minutes. After both teams were called for offsetting penalties with 4:09 on the clock, 51 seconds later the Owls went to 4-on-3 as Hilbert was called for another penalty. The Hawk defense held strong by helping Card by blocking four shots, followed by the Hawks catching some luck with Grace Bazin's shot hitting the pipe. Hilbert easily killed off the remainder of their penalty soon after, as play was sent to 5-on-5. It didn't last long though, as KSC was called for another penalty of their own shortly after. Hilbert did not record a shot on goal over the two-minute advantage as the only shot was by KSC. When on the extra-skater advantage, Owen blew by the Hilbert defenders with the puck, but was sent flying into the net after being tripped. Owen then was awarded the first penalty shot in program history, but Card stuffed the opportunity to keep her off the board for the moment. Over the next four minutes after killing the remaining time in the penalty, KSC forced Card to make seven saves in net, but after making the eighth save, coming on Mosca, the rebound perfectly fell to Abby Pomajba, who buried it into the back of the net to put the Owls up 4-0. 59 seconds later, KSC added another goal as Iantosca got the puck from the near boards, sent a pass through the defenders' legs to herself, and then fired a shot top shelf for her second of the game. Just over a minute later, after Montgomery made the initial save, KSC was unable to get the puck out of the defensive zone, falling to Wagner, who flicked a shot on goal that made its way past Montgomery for Hilbert's first of the game. The goals continued to flow in shortly after Iantosca won the ensuing faceoff, Brianna Finke sent a pass to Iantosca, who netted her third goal of the game and first hat trick on home ice in program history for the Owls. 1:38 after Iantosca netted her hat trick, Hilbert tallied their second goal of the game, as Megan Moceri poked the puck over to Kaitlin Cowie, who scored for the Hawks to pull within 4 with 2:11 left on the clock. As the game wound down, KSC found themselves on another power play with 1:19 remaining. The owls capitalized and Owen got Card back, by sending a shot through traffic in front of the net from the blue line, that found the back of the net to cement the 7-2 win over the Hawks for KSC.
 
Inside the Crease

• Montgomery recorded 10 saves in net for her fifth win in her past six games for the Owls.
• Iantosca led KSC with three points, coming from her three goals. Three other Owls also tallied multi-point games, with Finke grabbing a pair of assists, while two of the teams' four seniors, Owen and Mosca, each tallied a goal and an assist.
• KSC had the advantage on the draws, going 37-for-62 (59.7%). Iantosca dominated on all aspects of her game on the day, as she also led the Owls going 14-for-19 (73.7%) on faceoffs.
• The Hawks blocked 23 of the Owls' shots, compared to just 5 from KSC.
• KSC went 1-for-3 on the power play on the day, coming from Owen's late goal.

Up Next
Keene State will be back at home for their next game, as they will host Anna Maria for a home-and-home, starting on Friday, January 24, at 7:45 PM.
Hilbert next plays against Nazareth University on Friday, January 31, at 2:00 PM.