Raiders Open New Year by Blanking Syracuse
HAMILTON, N.Y. (1/2/12) – The Colgate women's hockey
team opened the New Year with a bang on Monday night when it
defeated Syracuse 5-0 in its final non-conference matchup of the
season.
The Raiders scored four goals in the second period and one in the
third to secure the shutout win.
Senior goaltender Kimberly Sass had a solid performance in net with
33 saves in her eighth career shut out. Junior Jenna Klynstra led
the team in scoring with one goal and two assists while freshman
Melissa Kueber and junior Brittany Phillips tallied one goal and
one assist apiece. Sophomore Megan Wickens also added two points
from two assists.
In the first period both teams took some time to warm up after both
having just come off a four-week break from competition. As the
game progressed, it was Syracuse that was able to find its shooting
momentum first, creating some close opportunities and hitting the
pipe in the seventh minute but could not get on the scoreboard. A
pair of penalties on Colgate (7-10-1, 2-4-1 ECAC Hockey) gave the
Orange an extra skater advantage on two occasions but it could not
capitalize. It was not until the final seven minutes of the frame
that the Raiders were able to find their rhythm and fire some shots
on net with the help of two power play advantages of their own. In
the final seconds of the period, Syracuse thought it had found the
opening goal with a shot at the buzzer that made its way into the
frame however, it was waved off by the officials after reviewing
the play.
The near-goal opportunity by the Orange proved to be the igniting
force for Colgate. The Raiders jumped out to an explosive start
finding an early goal at the 2:17 mark to take a 1-0 lead. Kueber
scored the goal with help from Wickens and sophomore Jocelyn
Simpson. Colgate struck again 68 seconds later on a fast break when
Klynstra picked up a loose puck, slid it over to Phillips who then
skated down the ice and dished it off to sophomore Shannon Doyle
who hammered it home to put the score at 2-0. Both teams then began
to play a more aggressive and physical game throughout the stanza
but it was the Raiders that were able to score a pair of goals in
the final minute to increase their lead to 4-0. Klynstra scored the
team's third goal at the 19:12 mark with assists from senior
co-captain Amanda Kirwan and freshman Miriam Drubel, while
sophomore Taylor Volpe scored the fourth goal at the 19:46 mark
with help from Kueber and Wickens.
Colgate then went on to score its final and fifth goal at the 9:48
mark of the third period courtesy of Phillips with an assist from
Klynstra to defeat Syracuse for the second time this season and
earn its second shutout win, 5-0.
The Orange held a 33-29 shooting advantage and both teams
went scoreless on the power play with a total of 12 chances between
them. Syracuse had 24 saves from its two goaltenders that split
time in net.
The Raiders will resume play on the road this weekend with a pair
of ECAC Hockey matchups against Rensselaer and Union on Friday,
Jan. 6 and Saturday, Jan. 7 respectively.












