Women’s Hockey defeats WPI 10-0, scoring three or more goals in each period
The University of Rhode Island Rams women’s club hockey team took on the Worcester Polytechnic Institute Engineers Saturday night at Boss Ice Arena, winning in all aspects of the game.
Despite never going on the powerplay, the Rams tallied 10 goals, outshooting their opponent 37-12.
Second-year forward Rylee Tanner started the scoring early in the first period. As WPI tried to break the puck out of their zone, Tanner pickpocketed Pioneer defenseman Melissa Kelly, resulting in a breakaway. With nobody in front of her, Tanner skated towards the goalie and fired a shot into the bottom right corner of the net.
Fourth-year forward Audrey Rowen was the highest point scorer in the contest, recording two goals and one assist. Her first goal came six minutes into the first period when she scored a self-created backhand goal. With her team in the midst of a line change, Rowen pushed the puck into WPI’s defensive zone, skating wide-right and around the opposing defenseman. From there, she glided into the slot, putting the puck on her backhand and slipping it past WPI goalie Emily Johnson, extending the Rams’ lead to two goals.
“Something that helps me is keeping my mind clean, just going into [the play] with no doubts,” Rowen said when talking about her first goal.
WPI only carried 11 skaters in this game, and URI took advantage of this with their speed and stickhandling. This was showcased when third-year forward Paige Spooner scored the third goal of the game late in the first period. After creating a few chances in the offensive zone, Tanner regrouped her line by curling back into the neutral zone. She then returned back into WPI territory, skating in between both Pioneer defenseman before sliding the puck over to Spooner. Catching the puck on her forehand, Spooner took a low shot that entered the back of the net for the third goal of the first period.
“I think we did the best at playing our game,” URI Head Coach Nikki Friesen said. “We stuck to our systems and to our plan and the girls worked hard on the little things that we asked of them.”
Third-year forward Serena Batacchi scored two goals in this game as well. Midway through the second period, Batacchi received a drop pass from Spooner at the top of the slot. There was enough space between Batacchi and WPI’s defenseman, allowing Battachi to shoot an uncontested shot that traveled to the top left corner of the net.
Another third-year forward, Emily Jedson, scored a goal off a rebound at the end of the second period. Jedson’s line generated momentum in their offensive zone, setting up shots from all areas of the ice. The puck eventually made its way to Rowen, and she fired a shot from the right side of the slot. The shot bounced off WPI goalie Emily Johnson and onto the stick of Jedson, who buried it into the back of the net for URI’s fifth goal.
Rowen would later score her second goal early into the third period off a rebound in front of the net. Her linemate Jedson brought the puck into URI’s offensive zone skating to the bottom of the left faceoff circle. With her head up, Jedson fired the puck between both of WPI’s defenseman right towards Johnson, creating a rebound. Positioning herself in front of the net, Rowen caught the rebound and buried the sixth goal of the game for the Rams.
Batacchi’s second goal came at the tail end of the third period after URI scored their ninth goal of the game from first-year forward Claire Falcone. Batacchi received the puck from the neutral zone faceoff and skated into the offensive zone with speed. She managed to skate around a Pioneer defenseman on the right side of the ice and tucked the puck in between the legs of Johnson.
Next weekend, URI will play three straight home games at Boss Ice Arena. On Friday at 10 p.m. and Saturday at 7 p.m., the Rams will play two games against the University of Maryland Terrapins. On Sunday at 10:30 a.m., the Rams will wrap up their weekend series against Wesleyan University.