Sports
Katie Parkman ’17 fights for the puck against a Bowdoin defender. (PHOTO: Jade Thomas '20)
Women’s hockey splits weekend series with Bowdoin capped by OT thriller
By Mary Lundin ’19
February 9, 2017
Tags sports
The Hamilton College women’s hockey team competed in back-to-back games Friday, February 3 and Saturday February 4 against Bowdoin College at the Russell Sage Rink. This series marked the Continentals third-to-last series of the season and second-to-last home series.
Bowdoin dominated the first period of Friday’s game, scoring on a wrist shot by Brooke Solomon ’19 off of an assist by Julia Dachille ’18 five minutes into play, which put the Polar Bears up 1-0. Hamilton began the second period strong, getting on the scoreboard on a power-play goal by Olivia Hawes ’19. Bowdoin goaltender Sophia Lattanzio ’18 made a stick save of a shot by Caroline Knop ’18, and the rebound directed to Hawes at the left post. This goal was Hawes’ fifth this winter and third on the power play.
Bowdoin’s Julie Dachille nabbed the second goal for Bowdoin, the game winner, about 13 minutes into the third period. With Bowdoin on the power play, Jessica Bowen and Marissa Fichter exchanged the puck, directing it to Dachille adjacent to the left post. Dachille’s backhand shot slipped between goaltender Sam Walther ’18 and the post, and Bowdoin scored what would turn out to be the game’s last goal. For the final 1:15 of the game, Hamilton skated with a six-on-four advantage, pulling goaltender Sam Walther as an extra skater at the 18:19 mark. Barely 30 seconds later, the Polar Bears were called for their sixth penalty. The Continentals managed eight shots in the final few minutes; however, Bowdoin goaltender Sophia Lattanzio made five of her 37 saves, preventing the Continentals from tying the score.
Saturday’s game began with the Continentals conceding two goals and ended with an incredible comeback and an overtime victory over the Polar Bears by a score of 3-2. With this stellar performance, the Continentals, who are currently ranked 10th in D3hockey.com’s poll, are now 12-6-2 overall and have a record of 7-4-1 in the NE- SCAC conference, good enough for second in the conference. Michaela Giutarri ’20 initiated Hamilton’s comeback barely five minutes into the third period, picking up her fourth goal of the season. Sara Taffe ’17 and Katie Parkman ’17 aided Giuttari on the play. Giutarri’s skillful, quick goal gave the Continentals some reassurance and excitement. Then, Emily Williams ’19 netted her third goal of the season with about three minutes left in regulation. Williams’ goal came on the power play, and it evened the score against the Polar Bears. Finally, in overtime, Sara Taffe ’17 extended Hamilton’s comeback with her first ever career overtime goal, with the help of a pass from Megan Ahern ’17. Much of the Continentals’ success is due to Walther who managed to keep Bowdoin scoreless throughout the final 33:23 and ended up with 16 saves.
Maddie Carras ’17 shared her thoughts on the thrilling series and the women’s aspirations for the remainder of the season. “Going into this weekend, we really wanted to capitalize on our new and improved power plays which we debuted with much success at Middlebury last week. As of Saturday they’re still looking strong!” Carras also added that, “A season-long goal has been to score the first goal in every game in order to swing the momentum in our direction. Although we didn’t meet that goal this weekend, our epic Saturday comeback was still pretty sweet. Even though we had two difficult games, we managed to stay chipper and supportive on the bench.” As for the remainder of the season, Carras mentioned a little bit of their strategy, saying, “for the remainder of regular season we plan to dominate Amherst and Conn with smiles on our faces and vengeance in our hearts.”
The Continentals host Amherst College on Friday February 10 at 7 p.m. and again on Saturday, Febru- ary 11 at 3 p.m. at the Russell Sage Rink. Saturday will be Senior Day, where the five senior players will take the ice for the final time of their Hamilton careers at Sage Rink. At the moment, Hamilton is 12-6-2 overall and ranked eighth in the nation according to the USCHO.com poll, while Amherst is 10-5-4 and currently is fourth in the conference.
The final series of the season will pit the Continentals against Connecticut College, the current first place team in the NESCAC. Hamilton is seeking positive results from two tough opponents to secure a home playoff game at Sage Rink.