No. 9 Wilkes Women's Ice Hockey Downs No. 12 Elmira in Ranked Clash
WILKES-BARRE – The No. 9 ranked Wilkes University women's ice hockey team grounded the No. 12 Soaring Eagles of Elmira College Tuesday afternoon, picking up a 4-1 victory at the Toyota SportsPlex.
Wilkes improves to 3-0 on the year while handing Elmira their first loss of the young season as they fall to 2-1. This also marks the first time in program history that Wilkes has defeated Elmira.
The Colonels struck first and fast, as
Eerika Siekkinen (Phitipudas, Finland) scored her first goal for the navy and gold after a
Lily Pratt (Chazy, NY) pass and interception. The Colonels took that lead into the second period, but early momentum was in favor of the Soaring Eagles as a slashing call on
Jasmine Kohl (Moose Jaw, SK) allowed the visitors to start the period on the power play. Even after a successful penalty kill, Elmira found an equalizer at 12:33 off the stick of Anna Lugge.
Haylee Bouchard (Sioux Lookout, ON/Sioux North) moved quickly to restore the lead, netting her second goal of the season with a shot off the crossbar and in at 13:25, assisted by
Megan Bell (Waterloo, ON/St. David Catholic). The third line added another goal at 17:48, as Bouchard and Bell assisted
Gianna Pacilio (Franklinville, NJ/) in a trio of passes across the face of goal to make it a 3-1 game heading into the final frame.
Karolina Skorepova (Prague, Czechia) added the final goal at 1:54 in the third, rifling home a close-range chance to create the 4-1 final scoreline. The Colonel penalty kill kept the Soaring Eagles off the board on all five power play opportunities during the game, with two in the second period and three in the third.
Bell (two assists) and Bouchard (one goal, one assist) led the team with multi-point days, while Pacilio led the Colonels with six shots.
Jordan Ferry (Bohemia, NY/) led the Colonels from the faceoff dot with nine wins on 15 attempts, while
Audrey Milne (London, ON/St. Thomas Aquinas) made 33 saves in her first action of the season between the pipes.
Lugge led Elmira's offensive efforts with seven total shots and the team's lone goal, while matching Ferry with nine faceoff wins. Olivia Last made 24 saves in goal for the Soaring Eagles.
Wilkes returns to the Toyota SportsPlex to conclude their five-game homestand this weekend with a pair of games against King's College, beginning on Friday, November 13 at 3:00 p.m.
