RUTLAND, Vt. – On the second day of the Vermont weekend trip for the Keene State College women's ice hockey team, the Owls looked to rebound on their second day, but Vermont State University Castleton had other plans as the Owls were downed 5-1 to fall to 0-2 in Little East Conference action to open the season.
Records
- Keene State: 0-3-0 (0-2-0 LEC)
- Castleton: 3-0-0 (2-0-0 LEC)
How it Happened
Both goaltenders held strong to open the contest with
Ai Chung making five saves in net for the Owls and Gianna McCusker making four saves for the Spartans over the opening 12 minutes of the first period. KSC had the first powerplay opportunity of the day with 7:42 remaining in the opening period, but it did not last long as the Owls were called for a penalty of their own just 37 seconds into the powerplay leading to 4-on-4 action. Both goalies made a save over the 4-on-4 action but neither team capitalized on the short advantage with an extra skater they had. The rest of the opening period Chung and McCusker both made another pair of saves to send the game into the first intermission tied 0-0.
KSC nearly found the board first in the second period, but McCusker saved a shot from each
Emily Edmunds and
Caroline Demeo, while
Loreli Norman's shot hit the pipe over the first two minutes of the period. Despite the Owls' early pressure in the period, Castleton struck first by netting a pair of goal just 28 seconds apart to jump to a 2-0 lead with 15:50 remaining in the period. The Spartans had another chance three minutes later with a powerplay opportunity, but Chung saved both shots she saw over the penalty kill to kill to penalty off for the Owls. Despite Chung making six more saves in goal the rest of the period, the Spartans broke through once more in the second with Maddy Jorgenson netting the third goal of the period for Castleton as they took the 3-0 lead into the final 20 minutes of regulation.
After scoring 3:48 into the second period, the Spartans nearly did the same in the third period, as Castleton netted another goal 3:29 into the third to go ahead 4-0. Chung bounced back to make seven saves over the next three minutes before
Brianna Finke found the back of the net for the Owls to cut the lead back down to three as
Ava Iantosca picked up an assist on Finke's third goal of the season with 9:10 left in the contest. The rest of the way the Owls were unable to break through and KSC was unable to capitalize on the late penalty to the Spartans as Castleton tacked on one more late goal for a short-handed empty-netter to put the final nail in the coffin as the Owls fell 5-1.
Inside the Crease
- Keene State falls to 1-6 in the all-time series between the two teams.
- Both teams went 0-for-2 on their powerplay opportunities on the day.
- Chung made 32 saves for the Owls, while McCusker made 14 saves for Castelton.
- Finke and Iantosca both recorded their third points of the season with Finke netting her third goal, while Iantosca recorded assist number two to go with her goal in the season opener.
- Castleton had the slight edge on faceoffs, going 23-for-45 (51.1%) on faceoffs with Iantosca leading the Owls on draws going 11-for-17 (64.7%).
Up Next
Keene State returns home for their next contest as the Owls host the University of Massachusetts-Boston for their next contest on Friday, November 13, at 4:00 PM.
Castleton also plays their next game on Friday, November 13, as the Spartans will travel to take on New England College at 6:00 PM.
