Sacred Heart
7-14-3
Rhode Island
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rhode Island | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Sacred Heart | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
Sacred Heart Completes Season Sweep of Rhode Island with 6-1 Win on Senior Day
2/14/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Ice Hockey
SHELTON, Conn. – Playing in their final home game of their Sacred Heart careers, all four seniors on the women's ice hockey team, Alanna Woodford, Briana Connolly, Natasha Klinoff, and Alex Davis, registered a point, as SHU defeated Rhode Island for the fourth time this season, 6-1, at the Sports Center of Connecticut on Saturday afternoon. Klinoff, along with Brittany Smith, Julie Dobiac, Amie Varano, and Megan Finlay, each finished with two points in the win. The Pioneers scored three goals in the first period to pull away.
Sacred Heart jumped on the Rams right from the start, with Klinoff scoring on the first shot of the game just 25 seconds in. Dobiac had the assist, and from there, Sacred Heart would not look back. For much of the first though, both teams would struggle to put shots on net. Sacred Heart finally began applying pressure mid way through the period and it capitalized when Klinoff's centering pass found Connolly in the slot. Connolly redirected it past Ross with 7:11 left to give SHU the 2-0 lead. Heather Daley also assisted on the score. Megan Finlay scored the third 2:41 before the final intermission with assists from Varano and Smith.
SHU continued the pressure out of the break and it took only 1:22 to score the fourth. Woodford skated around the net and found Casey Stathopoulos waiting by the left post. The Pioneers' leading scorer one timed the pass into the back of the net for the four-goal cushion. The fifth goal came after Smith won a faceoff back to Varano. She then sent it cross-ice to Megan Ofner, who was positioned at the top of the left circle. Ofner collected the puck and blasted her shot past Ross to make the score, 5-0 with 12:14 remaining in the second.
URI would get a goal back midway thorough the second but could get no closer. The final goal of the came from Dobiac, whose shot from the top of the right circle finished the game's scoring with 13:03 showing in the third. The goal assured each senior would end the game with a point, as Davis, along with Finaly, set up the score.
Sacred Heart held a, 27-14, advantage in shots for the game. Amanda Fontaine stopped 13 of the 14 shots that she faced in the win, while Ross saved 21 of 27. There were only three penalties called throughout the sixty minutes, all on the Rams, with two coming in the final 1:12. SHU went 0-2 on the power play.
The Pioneers finish their season with the ECAC Open Tournament on February 28 and March 1. The tournament will be hosted by Saint Michael's in Colchester, Vt. Game times are still to be determined.
