Women's Ice Hockey Defeats Hood College in MAC Regular Season Finale
FREDERICK, Md. – The Wilkes University women's ice hockey team finished their regular season in the Middle Atlantic Conference on Friday night, defeating Hood College on the road in a tight contest, 3-2.
Powered by two goals from Haylee Bouchard (Sioux Lookout, ON/), the Colonels ended the regular season on an 18-game winning streak in the MAC.
Wilkes finishes their season with a record of 22-1-1 (20-1-0 MAC), while the Blazers finish at 14-9-2 (10-8-2 MAC).
Hood stunned the Colonels and took the lead just 43 seconds in off the stick of Sofie Ancona. 14 minutes later, Bouchard scored her first goal of the night off an assist from Nina Hudakova (Košice, Slovakia/Hoosac Prep School).
In the second period, Wilkes took a 2-1 lead at 2:55 into the frame with Bouchard netting her second of the night. Hudakova notched her second helper on the play, with Megan Bell (Waterloo, ON/St. David Catholic) grabbing the secondary assist.
On the power play, the Blazers struck again at 6:58 into the second period, with Renata Petrella putting pressure on the Colonels with the equalizing goal.
Wilkes took advantage of a scoring opportunity under seven minutes later at 13:34 when Polina Telehina (Kyiv, Ukraine) found twine. Bouchard and Anneke Bouma (Newcastle, ON/) notched the assists on the play that game the Colonels a 3-2 lead.
The third period saw both goaltenders come up largely for their sides. Hood's Maggie Grijalva and Audrey Milne (London, ON) combined for 24 saves in the final frame, with the latter stopping a Blazer comeback.
The Colonels were able to stop Hood from equalizing with their netminder pulled, clinching victory and ending the regular season on a high note before next week's playoff matchup.
Milne ended the game with 24 total saves, while Jordan Ferry (Bohemia, NY) won 10 faceoffs and recorded seven shots on goal, both team highs.
Grijalva made 43 saves in the loss. Mia Cheesebrough led the Blazers with 13 faceoff wins, while Ancona put up a team-high six shots on goal.
The Colonels return to the Toyota Sportsplex next Saturday, Feb. 28 for a MAC semi-final matchup against Alvernia. Puck drop against the Golden Wolves is slated for 3:30 p.m.
