MORRISVILLE, N.Y. – The Morrisville State Women's Ice Hockey team let an early lead slip away on Saturday afternoon as they dropped the second game of their Colonial Hockey Conference (CHC) series against Endicott College 3-2.
Morrisville started aggressively, outshooting the Gulls 8-5 in the first period. Their offensive pressure paid off as they scored first with 4:45 remaining in the opening period. Renee Stevenson (Winnipeg, Manitoba) worked the puck up to Vanessa Klimpke (Winnipeg, Manitoba). Klimpke's shot was denied, but Jessica Ujcik (Munich, Germany) picked up the deflection and slid the puck just inside the right post for the 1-0 Morrisville advantage.
The tides began to turn a little in the second as the Endicott offense woke up. However, the Mustangs were able to extend their lead to 2-0 at the 5:41 mark. Kanekaroroks McComber (Kahnawake, British Columbia) received a pass from Stephanie Strymecki (Kelowna, British Columbia), and ripped a shot towards the Gull's net. Instead of finding the back of the net, McComber's shot found the skate of Maddison Devlin (Campbell River, British Columbia) and re-directed for the goal.
Four minutes later, just under halfway through the second, Endicott found the chance they needed to begin to mount their comeback. Ellen Carter capitalized on a Mustang hooking penalty to cut the lead in half for the Gulls.
With Morrisville up 2-1 entering the third period, the hosts looked to find away from the visitors from Endicott. An early hooking penalty on the Gulls put Morrisville in a great position to gain an advantage in a power play situation. Unfortunately, Morrisville would not get the full two minutes as they were called for a penalty of their own, nulling the advantage.
Endicott continued to pound the Morrisville net in the third period, outshooting the Mustangs 19-6. Their efforts would pay off as they tied the game up at 2-2 just over four minutes into the third period.
The Gulls tallied the game-winner at the 15:37 mark for the 3-2 victory.
After this weekend, both Endicott and Morrisville have one conference loss. The Gulls have played two more CHC games than the Mustangs. Morrisville will look to gain ground on Endicott next weekend at Stevenson University during the Gulls' bye-weekend. The first game of the Stevenson series is set to start at 4 PM on Friday afternoon.
Morrisville State College's curricula are enriched with applied learning and pave the way for opportunity at both the Morrisville and Norwich campuses. An action-oriented, interactive learning lab, the college is a national leader in technology and has been lauded for its exemplary, innovative and effective community service programs.
The college was ranked among the Best Regional Colleges in the North by U.S. News and World Report Best Colleges 2016 issue and was also recognized in the Top Public Schools, Regional Colleges North in the 2016 Best Colleges rankings. For more information about Morrisville State College, visit www.morrisville.edu.
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