Rams lose 6-0 to four-time defending national champions
Senior Carissa Rego takes the puck toward goal for one of Rhody’s eight shots on net. Photo Courtesy of: URI Campus Rec. PHOTO CREDIT: Campus Recreation
The University of Rhode Island Women’s Hockey team started off their season with their toughest game of the 2022-23 season last Thursday, taking on four-time defending champions Liberty University at home here in Kingston at the Boss Ice Arena.
While Rhody was able to generate chances, the Rams were ultimately outshot 34-8 and fell 6-0 to the number one team in the country.
The Rams fell behind in the first period, allowing a shorthanded goal to Flames defender Aislyn Stretch who scored unassisted to put Liberty on top 1-0. Soon after, top forward Brityn Fussy scored off an assist from Rianna Spanier to double the Flames lead going into the second period.
Shelby Bradford got things going in the second period, scoring both of her two goals for the game to give Liberty the 4-0 lead. Emerson Oakes put things out of reach, making it 5-0 before the second intermission.
Fussy added to her goal from the first period with her second goal of the game to make it 6-0 in the third and that would do it for the night, as the Rams fell to a dynamic Liberty squad that has won four straight National Championships.
Fussy and Bradford scored two goals each to give them both three goals and two assists in their opening three games of the season. The game puts the Flames at 3-0 while the Rams fall to 0-1 to start the season.
Assistant Captain Abbi Sampson has high hopes for the Rams this season despite the tough loss, saying that she saw very aggressive plays from her Ram teammates. She believes that this team can make it to nationals and make an impact on the URI hockey program.
“The team has spent a couple years in a slump,” Sampson said. “This year is going to be a come-up year.”
Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operations Ray Boudiette has high expectations for this year’s women’s hockey team. Boudiette knows that the team is young but he still believes they have the skills needed to make it to nationals in Frisco, Texas.
He said that the team is very talented and knows they can go far.
“Obviously the scoreboard wasn’t where we wanted it to be,” Boudiette said. “But at the same time I think we did a lot of really good things and hung in there with what’s been the number one team in the country for the past 5 years or so.”
Rams goalie Kaitlyn O’brien faced 34 shots against her and saved 28. She will go into her next game with an .82 SV%.
Even though the Rams only had eight shots on goal they played a very aggressive game of hockey. The Rams had relied heavily on their defense in this loss, as they were very aggressive, taking some of the pressure off of the goalie.
The team is now looking to prepare themselves for game two against Penn State University at Boss Arena on Oct. 14 and 15 with hopes of their first win of the year.