BRIDGEWATER, MASS. (September 25, 2022)- The Stonehill women's hockey team began gameplay with an exhibition against the University of Moncton Saturday afternoon at the Bridgewater Ice Arena.

The Details

• In the opening period, neither side found the back of the net but combined for 15 shots in total with Stonehill outshooting the Blue Eagles, 9-6. The Skyhawks had a chance early on at 17:17 when Josie Mendeszoon rifled a shot on net but saw her attempt turned away by Moncton netminder, Annick Boudreau. The squad continued to pepper Boudreau with shots in the opening frame, but Boudreau continued to make stop after stop. 
• Stonehill had a chance in the final moments of the first with under two minutes left in the period as Maddison Achtyl and Lily Barrett had shots back to back but were blocked each time by a Moncton defender. 
• Not to be outdone, Stonehill goalie, Hanna Zukow and the Skyhawk defense kept the Moncton offense at bay with their lowest shot total in today's contest. The Blue Angels threatened late when Martiza Labrie sent a hard shot on net but Zukow came up with the big stop and kept things scoreless heading into the second period. 
• Early in the second, Stonehill's strong offensive play paid off when after Sydney Russell put a shot on net that was turned away from Boudreau, Kathryn Karo was in the right place, at the right time as she corralled the rebound and snuck her shot past the Blue Eagles goalie for the 1-0 advantage. 
• From there, Zukow and Stonehill's defense held strong as the Blue Eagles were again scoreless despite outshooting the Skyhawks, 7-4. At 12:49, Moncton had a great chance for the tying goal when Emille Lalancette sent a hard shot on net but Zukow made an excellent swiping save that kept the opponents off the board. 
• With a little less than 10 minutes left in the second (8:29), Eve Stone made the move in net for Stonehill and was tested nearly right away (6:59) when Erica Plourde sent a shot on net but was sent back by Stone. The Blue Eagles continued to pepper Stone with three shots, but she turned away each one and helped keep the Stonehill lead to 1-0 going into the final period.

• Just under 10 minutes remaining in the period (8:46), Lalancette broke the scoreless tie when she put a hard shot on net that went past Stone's upper right corner and evened the game at one. 
• Stonehill had maybe their best chance to pull ahead at 7:29 when Gracie Sacca and Karo tried to take advantage of the commotion in front of the net and sent two quick shots on Boudreau but could not put the puck past Boudreau. 
• As the final period started to wind down, the Blue Eagles drew a power-play opportunity with just 36 seconds left in regulation. With 16 seconds left, Isadora Quirion put a shot on net but Stone made the great save to send things into overtime.
• In overtime, Moncton outshot Stonehill 8-0 but despite the huge shot advantage, Stone and the defense held strong. Out of the eight shots, seven were on target and Stone stopped each one which helped preserve the 1-1 draw. 
• Zukow and Stone had strong debuts in net for the Skyhawks as the duo made 19 and 10 saves respectively.

Watchorn's Wisdom

"I'm so proud and impressed with just what the girls brought to the table that we've thrown a lot at them in the last two to three weeks here," said Stonehill women's ice hockey head coach, Tara Watchorn. "They just played, I was so excited to see their skill level, to see them buy-in and work together. So a lot of promising things to come. Overall, getting to reflect on our first game, I think it was what I probably would've expected with that many freshmen playing their first game. I think just puck management changes, understanding that temp at the next level and how to be fresh each shift. So I think what we would've anticipated there, but lots of room for growth and it's exciting. We have some film that we can take a look at and work with the girls and talk on an individual basis and development. On the team side as well, I mean, lots of work, obviously special teams is always something that we can chip away at with it being so early. I think a lot of cool things came out of today we can build off of and go to work on. We got four days then it'll be off to UConn."

Up Next

Stonehill begins regular season play with a home and home weekend series at Hockey East member, University of Connecticut on Friday, September 30 at 6 p.m. followed by the Skyhawks official home opener against the Huskies on Saturday, October 1, at the Bridgewater Ice Arena at 5 p.m. 

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