Nov. 17, 2007

BOX SCORE

Aston, Pa. - The Neumann College women's hockey team came out strong in the opening game of their weekend series against Buffalo State at the Ice Works Quad Rinks Saturday night. Unfortunately, it was not enough as the Knights fell 4-2 to the Bengals in conference play.

 

 In the first period, an early penalty by sophomore Holly Williams came at the 00:54 mark, sparking the first power play of the night, which Buffalo State was unable to take advantage of.

 

Neumann's Leah Eyerman scored first, assisted by Vicki Scott and Carly Bondra, at 6:33 in the first period. Buffalo State answered, tying the game at 1-1 with 11:50 remaining on the clock. A penalty on Neumann sent Tabatha Schury to the box, giving Buffalo State the 5-4 advantage. That advantage lasted mere seconds, as Buffalo State was dealt another penalty at the 8:25 mark. Five seconds later, Neumann was penalized again, as Vicki Scott joined her teammate, giving the Bengals a 4-3 advantage.

               

As the minutes ticked away in the first period, Neumann did their best to score on the Buffalo goal, taking five shots on goal in roughly 45 seconds. However, they were unsuccessful forcing a tie as the two teams went into the first intermission.

               

In the second period, the Knights opened up with a penalty by Jessica Bryan 54 seconds in, giving Buffalo State another power play advantage. Once again, the Bengals were unable to capitalize as Mel Brunet blocked their three goal attempts. In the following five minutes, however, the Knights struggled to keep the puck out of their zone, allowing 7 shots on goal by Buffalo State.

 

Two back-to-back penalties by the Bengals - at 7:40 and 5:30 respectively - gave the Knights a 4 minute window of opportunity to score. Even with the advantage, the Knights were out-shot on goal. That trend continued throughout the second period, as the Knights' defense allowed Buffalo State a total of 19 shots on goal.

               

With 1:05 left in the second, Samantha May was pulled down as she attempted to score, by Buffalo State's Desiree Berger. The referees called interference by Buffalo, and May was awarded a penalty shot, which was unsuccessful. The second period ended with the teams still tied at 1-all.

               

Neumann won the third period face-off, but started one player short with Knights captain, Carolyn Fauteux in the penalty box for tripping. At 1:50, Tabatha Schury was penalized for interference, leaving the Knights at a 5-3 disadvantage for ten seconds.

               

At 3:53, Buffalo State scored on a power play, making it a 2-1 game.  A penalty on the Bengals at 4:14 gave Neumann the first advantage of the period. Unfortunately, Buffalo scored a short-handed goal at 6:09, giving them a 3-1 lead. Another Buffalo State penalty at 6:40, gave Neumann another power play advantage, which they were able to capitalize on. Freshman Nicki Blazenko scored at 7:17, assisted by Jessica Schroeder and Carolyn Fauteux, bringing the Knights close to tying the game with a 3-2 score.

 

The teams played well defensively for the better part of the period. With 2:55 left to play, Buffalo scored again, bringing the game to 4-2. Though Neumann played hard, there would not be enough time left for them to make up a two goal deficit, and the final score would stand at 4-2.

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The Knights will close out the weekend series Sunday, November 18^th at 2:00 p.m.