2008 Woodie Awards
Lady Cardinals clinch ECAC-West regular-season title in win over Elmira
Matt Rosenberg
Issue date: 2/15/08 Section: News
Originally published: 2/18/08 at 2:41 AM EST
Last update: 2/18/08 at 2:39 AM EST
For the second straight day, No. 7 Elmira College let a 2-0 lead slip away, as No. 2 Plattsburgh State rallied to defeat the Soaring Eagles 4-3.
The Lady Cards (21-2-1, 14-1-1 ECAC-West) clinched the top-seed and home-ice throughout in the ECAC-West tournament with the victory.
Elmira (16-5-1, 10-3-1 ECAC-West) opened the scoring midway through the first period when senior Tory MacNeil battled hard in front of the net for a loose puck that trickled in.
Later, off a turnover behind the Lady Cards' net, sophomore Karen Colehour let go a high wrist-shot from the right side to give the Soaring Eagles a 2-0 lead at 12:44. It was Colehour's second goal of the series and was assisted by sophomore Laryn DePaul.
The lead was cut to 2-1, as Division III leading scorer, junior Danielle Blanchard, cleaned up a rebound in front and found the back of the net for a Lady Cards power play goal at 14:02.
Sophomore Laurie Bowler forced a turnover in the Lady Cards defensive zone and on a breakaway roofed a backhand shot to tie the game, 2-2.
Blanchard gave the Lady Cards a 3-2 lead with her 25th goal of the season in the second period. The lead was the first of the weekend for the Lady Cards
During the period, Bowler skated off the ice from the bench following a collision with the boards. She suffered what PSUC Head Coach Kevin Houle described as "an upper extremity" injury.
Freshman Megan Dijulio played in Bowler's place for the remainder of the game with junior Lindsay Brown and junior Claire O'Connor, who Houle described as "the most under-rated player in the conference."
Elmira tied the game 3-3 with a goal from DePaul that snuck in between PSUC junior goalie Danielle Beattie's left pad and the far-right post.
With 5:28 remaining in the third period, and after the Lady Cards failed to convert on a 5-on-3, Dijulio netted a centering feed from O'Connor to score what proved to be the game-winning goal.
"Claire got the puck and beat one of the defenseman," Dijulio said. "She passed a perfect pass to me and I just had to tip it in. It was pretty much all Claire."
Brown got the secondary assist on the goal.
With a face-off in the Lady Cards zone and seven seconds remaining in the game, Elmira was able to put some pressure on Beattie. A scramble in front led to the puck being batted by a Soaring Eagles' high stick and a face-off at the opposite end of the ice to secure the win.
"It's great to be able to step in there in that role," Houle said of Dijulio. "It's great to know we have depth. It's not just one or two players. There are other players that may not get notoriety who step up and make big plays."
"We struggled in the first period defensively. We got beat to loose pucks. It's not easy to hang in there when you give up two early but (Beattie) did and she got better as the game went on."
The Lady Cards out-shout the Soaring Eagles 43-31. The Soaring Eagles got another good start in net from junior goalie Allison Cubberley who made 39 saves, including 14 while her team was on the penalty-kill.
"I think people forget that she was goalie of the year in our conference last year," Elmira Head Coach Paul Nemetz-Carlson said. "She gets in front of pucks, stops them and knows where every rebound is going to go. It's unfortunate (Plattsburgh) had to score that fourth goal. She played well and we thrive on that."
The game closed out the ECAC-West schedule for the Lady Cards. Elmira dropped to fourth in the conference following the loss. Utica, which one two games this weekend, moved to second, two points ahead of RIT (22) and three ahead of Elmira (21).
Both RIT and Elmira have two ECAC-West games next weekend. Utica has completed its schedule.
The Lady Cards will face Bowdoin next Saturday, but Houle addressed how important this weekend was in clinching home-ice for the ECAC-West tournament in two weeks.
"It's huge," he said. "I'm confident we can win anywhere but it's nice to have that comfort level of being home."
GAME NOTES:
Bowler was seen coming out of the Lady Cards' locker room wearing a sling on her left arm after the game…Soaring Eagles' junior Natasha Yeates stumbled off the ice in the second period following a hard hit and did not return to the bench in the third period…Blanchard's 25th goal is a career best, breaking her personal record of 24 set last season…The ECAC-West regular-season title is PSUC's fifth consecutive.
The Lady Cards (21-2-1, 14-1-1 ECAC-West) clinched the top-seed and home-ice throughout in the ECAC-West tournament with the victory.
Elmira (16-5-1, 10-3-1 ECAC-West) opened the scoring midway through the first period when senior Tory MacNeil battled hard in front of the net for a loose puck that trickled in.
Later, off a turnover behind the Lady Cards' net, sophomore Karen Colehour let go a high wrist-shot from the right side to give the Soaring Eagles a 2-0 lead at 12:44. It was Colehour's second goal of the series and was assisted by sophomore Laryn DePaul.
The lead was cut to 2-1, as Division III leading scorer, junior Danielle Blanchard, cleaned up a rebound in front and found the back of the net for a Lady Cards power play goal at 14:02.
Sophomore Laurie Bowler forced a turnover in the Lady Cards defensive zone and on a breakaway roofed a backhand shot to tie the game, 2-2.
Blanchard gave the Lady Cards a 3-2 lead with her 25th goal of the season in the second period. The lead was the first of the weekend for the Lady Cards
During the period, Bowler skated off the ice from the bench following a collision with the boards. She suffered what PSUC Head Coach Kevin Houle described as "an upper extremity" injury.
Freshman Megan Dijulio played in Bowler's place for the remainder of the game with junior Lindsay Brown and junior Claire O'Connor, who Houle described as "the most under-rated player in the conference."
Elmira tied the game 3-3 with a goal from DePaul that snuck in between PSUC junior goalie Danielle Beattie's left pad and the far-right post.
With 5:28 remaining in the third period, and after the Lady Cards failed to convert on a 5-on-3, Dijulio netted a centering feed from O'Connor to score what proved to be the game-winning goal.
"Claire got the puck and beat one of the defenseman," Dijulio said. "She passed a perfect pass to me and I just had to tip it in. It was pretty much all Claire."
Brown got the secondary assist on the goal.
With a face-off in the Lady Cards zone and seven seconds remaining in the game, Elmira was able to put some pressure on Beattie. A scramble in front led to the puck being batted by a Soaring Eagles' high stick and a face-off at the opposite end of the ice to secure the win.
"It's great to be able to step in there in that role," Houle said of Dijulio. "It's great to know we have depth. It's not just one or two players. There are other players that may not get notoriety who step up and make big plays."
"We struggled in the first period defensively. We got beat to loose pucks. It's not easy to hang in there when you give up two early but (Beattie) did and she got better as the game went on."
The Lady Cards out-shout the Soaring Eagles 43-31. The Soaring Eagles got another good start in net from junior goalie Allison Cubberley who made 39 saves, including 14 while her team was on the penalty-kill.
"I think people forget that she was goalie of the year in our conference last year," Elmira Head Coach Paul Nemetz-Carlson said. "She gets in front of pucks, stops them and knows where every rebound is going to go. It's unfortunate (Plattsburgh) had to score that fourth goal. She played well and we thrive on that."
The game closed out the ECAC-West schedule for the Lady Cards. Elmira dropped to fourth in the conference following the loss. Utica, which one two games this weekend, moved to second, two points ahead of RIT (22) and three ahead of Elmira (21).
Both RIT and Elmira have two ECAC-West games next weekend. Utica has completed its schedule.
The Lady Cards will face Bowdoin next Saturday, but Houle addressed how important this weekend was in clinching home-ice for the ECAC-West tournament in two weeks.
"It's huge," he said. "I'm confident we can win anywhere but it's nice to have that comfort level of being home."
GAME NOTES:
Bowler was seen coming out of the Lady Cards' locker room wearing a sling on her left arm after the game…Soaring Eagles' junior Natasha Yeates stumbled off the ice in the second period following a hard hit and did not return to the bench in the third period…Blanchard's 25th goal is a career best, breaking her personal record of 24 set last season…The ECAC-West regular-season title is PSUC's fifth consecutive.
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