On Saturday night, the women’s ice hockey team came close to achieving its first victory as the Cardinals hosted a competitive game against UMass Boston. Wesleyan took a 2-1 lead to the dressing room at the first intermission, but the Cardinals surrendered three second-period goals en route to a 5-3 defeat.
The Beacons took an early lead in the game, scoring 1:07 into the first period. The Cards then evened out the score as forward Jill Reynolds ’12, with assists from line mates Heather Lindgren ’11 and Leah Coe ’11, took a backhanded shot and scored her first goal of the season. With less than five minutes remaining in the period, Wesleyan gained the lead as defenseman Becca Koppel ’13, off a pass from Julia Mulhern ’12, scored on a Wesleyan power play with a hard slap shot from the point.
Although the Cardinals went into the second period with a one-goal lead, UMass was able to tie up the score while the Cardinals had two players in the penalty box. Before the second penalty was up, the Beacons netted another power-play goal a minute later, increasing their lead to 3-2. Wesleyan’s defense managed to hold off the UMass offense until the last 2:30 of the period, in which UMass increased its lead to 4-2.
In the third period, Wesleyan once again stepped it up as Reynolds lit the lamp with her second goal of the game just three minutes after the puck was dropped, with Mulhern receiving an assist. Although the Cards had two more power plays throughout the period, they were unable to capitalize on these opportunities. In the last few minutes of the period, Wesleyan pulled goalie Ashleigh Corvi ’13 to try and tie the score with a 6-on-5 advantage. Despite the Cardinals’ best efforts to even out the game, it was UMass that tickled the twine at the end as the Beacons added an empty-netter for the 5-3 final.
“We worked really hard and came close to tying up the game up in the third period,” said Reynolds. “We created a lot of offensive opportunities and kept positive attitudes throughout the game.”
Throughout the game, the Cardinals took an impressive 30 shots on the UMass net, while Corvi made 19 saves for Wesleyan.
“It was a little disappointing that we weren’t able to come away with a win yesterday,” said Reynolds. “But I think that if we keep working hard and playing as a team we will continue to improve.”
The Cardinals will be on the road for their next game, as they take on Trinity in Hartford on Tuesday.
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