Rutland, Vt. – In the Owls' first game back from winter break, the Keene State College women's ice hockey team was outmatched by the University of Vermont State Castleton Spartans 7-1 in the opening game of The Bagley Invitational.

Records

• Keene State: 7-5
• Castleton: 5-5-1

How it Happened


The Spartans jumped out to an early lead in the opening period as Alex Johnson put the Spartans on the board with a power play goal 4:42 into the contest. After KSC's goaltender, Makenna Montgomery made a pair of saves shortly after the opening goal. 1:07 after Johnson's goal, Castleton added another goal to the board as Ellie Schliebener scored a goal for herself after assisting on Johnson's opening goal. Over the next 10 minutes, Montgomery made three saves in net for KSC, while the Spartans' goalkeeper, Victoria Bakopanos, made seven saves in goal. With 3:15 remaining in the opening period, KSC received their second penalty of the game and after Montgomery saved the first shot attempt, she was unable to save the second as Brooke Noble scored her first goal of the game with 2:22 remaining in the first. Bakopanos made a pair of saves to close the period to keep KSC off the board, preserving Castleton's 3-0 lead heading into the second.
 
With four seconds left in the first, KSC was called for another penalty, but they were able to kill it off at the beginning of the second period, thanks to three saves by Montgomery. 6:32 into the period, KSC was called for a pair of penalties as play went to a 5-on-3 for the Spartans, but it did not last long as Castleton received a penalty of their own 26 seconds later. "We need to be more disciplined so that we can play more 5-on-5" said Owls' Head Coach Rob Morgan regarding the Owls' penalties throughout the game. 10 seconds into the 4-on-3 play, Castleton scored their third power play goal of the game to jump to a 4-0 lead, coming from Noble again. Both teams killed off the remaining penalties and then it was the Owls' turn for 5-on-3 play; 9:24 into the period, Mikayla Brightman was called for hooking and with 34 seconds remaining in the advantage, Olivia Carter was sent to the box for boarding. Despite the advantage, KSC was unable to convert on the opportunities, as they peppered Bakopanos in goal, but her eight saves shut the Owls down. "We had some good looks on the power play that we need to bear down and bury the open net chances" Morgan said on the Owls' opportunities' in the second period on the power play. Just as they had done with their past three goals, Castleton netted another power play goal later in the second, with Annika Nelson scoring a goal for the Spartans with 4:47 remaining in the second period. KSC was able to kill off their next penalty in the period without allowing a shot on goal as Montgomery made a pair of saves later in the period to keep the Spartans' lead to five heading into the third period.
 
Johnson opened the scoring 4:08 into the final period for an even strength goal for the Spartans to increase their lead to six. 3:18 later, KSC had a power play opportunity, but they were only able to get one shot off, that Bakopanos saved on Paige Henault. KSC was called for another penalty 8:43 into the period as play headed to 4-on-4 but 32 seconds into it, Ellie Patrick got the Owls on the board with her fourth goal of the season. After the Spartans' penalty was over, Montgomery made one save while Castleton was on the power play. Henault almost scored another goal for the Owls less than a minute after Patrick's as she had a short-handed breakaway into the Spartans' zone, but after deking out Bakopanos, her shot rang off the post and stayed out of the goal. With 8:22 remaining in the contest, KSC had another chance to cut into Castleton's lead with a pair of power plays over 3:19, including 41 seconds of 5-on-3, but Bakopanos saved all four shots from the Owls as play headed to less than five minutes remaining in the contest. With 3:56 remaining to play, Castleton tacked on their seventh goal, this time from Rachel McNeil, for the Spartans' fifth power play goal of the game. Montgomery saved the final five shots she faced in the contest, including a pair on another penalty that the Owls killed off, to limit the final score to 7-1 for Castleton.
 
Inside the Crease

• Montgomery tallied 21 saves in the contest, seven in each period, while Bakopanos recorded 24 in goal for the Spartans.
• Three Spartans tallied three points in the game with Johnson recording a pair of goals and an assist, while Schliebener had a goal and two assists and Codi Bacon recorded three assists.
• KSC was 42.2% on faceoffs (27-for-64), with Ava Iantosca leading the way going 12-for-18 (66.6%) for the Owls.
• KSC let up five power play goals on the nine opportunities for the Spartans. The Owls' 11 penalties are the most so far in a game in their first season, with their previous high being eight and happening twice.
• 50% of the Owls that played in the game received a penalty (10-for-20).
• Three Owls made their season debut in the game as Caroline Demeo, Mallory Stuart, and Abby Pomajba each played in their first game for KSC.

Up Next
Keene State next plays at 1:00 PM in the consolation game of The Bagley Invitational on Saturday, January 4, against Potsdam.
Castleton next plays in The Bagley Invitational Championship on Saturday, January 4, at 4:00 PM against Colby College.