The University of Rhode Island women’s club ice hockey team began their regular season over the weekend, hosting the University of Colorado and splitting the series 1-1.
Following a 3-0 slate of exhibition games against Sacred Heart University, Assumption University and Providence College, URI went into Saturday’s matchup with a goal differential of 14.
URI took the first game on Saturday night by a score of 3-1, and the Buffaloes took Sunday morning’s game 3-1. The Rams were outshot 98-42 in this slate.
“A lot of the reason that we’re getting so many shots against is because we’re not getting the puck out on the first try with the breakout,” URI Head Coach Nicole Friesen said. “It comes down to working with our defensemen to make sure that they’re putting themselves in a position to make better first passes to our wingers or to our centers.”
Saturday’s scoring saw contributions from each of the team’s leaders, fourth-year captain Emily Jedson, fourth-year alternate captain Paige Spooner and fourth-year alternate captain Grace Gibbons.
Despite Gibbons and Jedson getting on the board to extend their lead to 3-0 within the first seven minutes of the third period, the Rams were outshot 32-8 in that time. Second-year goaltender Morgan Ainley stopped 55 of 56 total shots to earn the win.
A little over 24 hours later, Rhody began the first period of Sunday morning’s game against Colorado with a power play just under four minutes in and gained an 8-1 lead in shots. However, from there it was all Buffaloes, passing the Rams in shots 15-9 and ending the period with a 1-0 lead off of second-year Natalie Ewald’s power play goal with three seconds left in the period.
“I think we came out a little bit flat in the first,” Friesen said. “I think we let them take the game to us.”
The second period’s bright spot for the Rams was first-year defenseman Reilly Hamilton, who scored her first collegiate goal, a trickling puck that found its way past Buffaloes goaltender Zoe Watson. Even though the Rams found the equalizer, they were still outshot by a wider margin in the period, 17-6.
“Even though there were 40 shots, our defense did a really good job of clearing out the net front,” fourth-year goaltender Maddie Ashenfelter said. “I could see every shot perfectly well, so they made my job a lot easier. It’s the beginning of the season, so obviously there’s room for improvement there.”
Second-year Claire Falcone’s tripping infraction at 16:45 gave the Buffaloes momentum with extended offensive-zone possession and chances in on Ashenfelter, but the goaltender shut down every opportunity.
“Maddie made a ton of critical saves for us, but if we’re able to be faster on our breakout, we should see less of that,” Friesen said. “I think she’s been exciting and she’s somebody that we can trust on the back end, for sure.”
Colorado’s fourth penalty of the game, assessed to Amelia Sowers for tripping, put the Buffaloes shorthanded at 11:00.
While trying to break out of their zone, an inadvertent pass off the boards fell on third-year Jordan Bonk’s stick for Colorado. The forward dangled through a couple of Rams on her way to the net, using her quick release to catch Ashenfelter off guard and put the Buffaloes up 2-1 at 10:17.
“I think we just need to capitalize a little bit more on opportunities and read the plays a little bit better,” Ashenfelter said.
Ewald’s second goal of the game with the net empty at 19:17 sealed the win for the Buffaloes.
“Obviously we would have loved to take [both games], but splitting it will get them fired up because they know what they can do now, so we’re going to be expecting good results,” Friesen said.
The Rams will head back on the road to face McKendree University for a two-game matchup this Friday at 4:30 p.m. and Saturday at 4:15 p.m. before finishing off the weekend with Lindenwood University on Sunday at 12:50 p.m.