For the third straight contest, the Oswego State women’s hockey team found itself in a tie game at the end of regulation, as they did Friday night against Williams College. After splitting a win and a loss last weekend against William Smith, neither team in this matchup would overcome the other, as the game ended in a 3-3 tie at the Marano Campus Center Ice Arena.
In their first ever matchup, the Lakers and the Ephs went back-and-forth in a hard-fought battle that went right down to the end.
“Today was a tough game, but it was fun,” said senior goaltender and captain, Tori Trovato.
Trovato, who totaled 47 saves on the night, set her career-high by nine saves in the tie.
“She’s finally starting to get back into her own game,” said head coach Diane Dillon. “She’s probably our best athlete on the team. In terms of reaction-time, strength, hand-eye coordination, competitiveness and toughness, she’s right there at the top of the list.”
Having sat behind First-Team All American Bridget Smith last year, even as a junior-captain, Trovato has had a tough transition not getting the net time she wanted, Dillon said.
With sophomore goalie Mariah Madrigal out with injury, who was one of the biggest surprises in Div. III hockey in the first half of the season, Trovato knows the starting spot is hers and will have to carry this team as the season winds down and in the playoffs as well.
Despite having the same number of goals, the Lakers were outshot 50-16 by the Ephs, never being able to string together enough offensive cohesion to put consistent pressure on the defensive opposition.
“If you can’t handle the puck cleanly, it makes it pretty difficult,” Dillon said. “We were not able to connect on that third pass so we didn’t get anything off the rush.
Dillon mentioned that the Ephs’ offense did just that and forced the defense to play back, creating a big disparity in puck possession.
“They were rushing through the neutral zone on us, hitting the blue line with speed,” she said. “That’s deadly to a defense. They [defense] have to back up; they have to honor that speed.”
With the lack of possession time, the Lakers needed players to step up and create their own offense to put pucks in the back of the net and that’s exactly what happened.
Assistant captain Ashley Lyman scored just 40 seconds into the game, bringing the puck from behind the net on a pass from Olivia Ellis and stuffing it right past Williams’ goalie Margaret Draper.
“We’ve been working with Ashley on attacking the net,” Dillon said. “She wants to be a big, strong hockey player.”
Then in the second and third period, respectively, Brianna Rice and Alli Ulrich each lit the lamp on snipes from the high slot, showing the power and accuracy on their sticks.
Ulrich’s power-play goal, which was just ten seconds into the shift at 10:30 in the period, would be the game-tying goal.
“We always talk about bending and not breaking,” Dillon said. “We always talk about eliminating those second-chance opportunities. I was really proud of the way we hung in there.”
Trovato did just that after surrendering three goals in the first two periods, one she admitted was her fault.
“I didn’t see the initial shot and I found it at the last second and it just slipped through my arm,” she said.
But, the senior said she collected herself and tried to wipe it from her memory.
“As a goalie, you need to do that,” Trovato said. “You need to get right back into it.”
These two teams will meet up again tomorrow in Oswego at 3 p.m., both looking to leave the weekend with a victory.
Although herself and her team are fatigued from three consecutive overtime games, Dillon sees a silver lining to the extra playing time.
“I’m really glad we’ve had these overtime games, because that’s the kind of pressure we’re going to have in the playoffs,” Dillon said. “Everything counts. Every shift matters. I think it’s a good training ground for us.”
