Women’s ice hockey annihilates Anna Maria

Adrien Gobin / THE GATEPOST

By Izabela Gage Sports Editor The Framingham State women’s ice hockey team defeated the Anna Maria College Amcats 7-4 on the road Jan. 24. This win brings their conference record to 2-5 and their overall record to 2-13-1. The Amcats took the first shot on goal a minute into the game, but sophomore Amy Tansek blocked it. After about a minute and a half of both teams fighting for the puck, sophomore Alyssa Tansek tried to find the back of the net, but her attempt was stopped by Anna Maria’s goaltender Emma Brewer. The Rams received a minor penalty, putting the Amcats on the power play. Sophomore goaltender Lila Chamoun stopped four shots, and sophomore Finley Hogan blocked one during the Rams’ penalty kill. With the game back to even strength, sophomore Petra Cernicek tried to slap shot the puck past Brewer’s pads, but was blocked by Anna Maria’s Ceilia Nolan. Alyssa Tansek went for the rebound shot only 10 seconds later, but it was saved by Brewer. The Amcats put the first point on the scoreboard just over 6 minutes into the first period, but the Rams did not let it go unanswered. Sophomore Sarah Lewis won the following faceoff before taking a shot on goal, which was unfortunately wide. The Rams kept the puck in their offensive zone, though, and Hogan netted the first goal for Framingham unassisted. Freshman Sophie Brien tried to keep the momentum and took a shot on goal, but it was blocked by Anna Maria’s Tessa Henry. The Amcats gained control of the puck and brought it into the Rams’ defensive zone, where Chamoun made another two saves. With fewer than 9 minutes remaining in the period, freshman Alexis Brown broke through Anna Maria’s defense and found the back of the net to give Framingham a 1-point lead. The Rams stayed assertive, with freshmen Molly Murphy and Rylee Bogren both taking shots on goal, but neither was successful. The Amcats tried to break through Chamoun’s defense, but she saved two shots. Framingham brought the puck back to their offensive zone, and over the next 2 minutes, Cernicek and Murphy both took shots on net, both of which were wide. Brien followed with an attempt to get the puck past the goal line, but Henry blocked her shot once again. Chamoun made another three saves once AMC took back control of the puck, but FSU didn’t let up. Cernicek attempted to slip the puck past Brewer’s pads, but couldn’t get it through. She followed with a rebound try that was also turned aside. As the puck lingered in front of the net, sophomore Jamie Webster made a final push to tap it over the goal line, but Brewer held firm. The first period ended with the Rams in the lead 2-1. Brien took the first shot on goal only 10 seconds into the second period, but it was saved by Brewer. Following a wide shot by the Amcats, the Rams took the puck down the ice, where Bogren tried to send the puck into the net twice, but both shots were saved. The puck stayed in Anna Maria’s defensive zone, and Lewis attempted to earn another point for Framingham, but was unsuccessful. After the next faceoff was won by the Rams, Murphy took a quick shot on net and put the third point on the board for FSU. The Amcats did not let that faze them, and Chamoun saved two shots, and Alyssa Tansek blocked another, but Anna Maria eventually found the back of the net 3 minutes later. Framingham won the next faceoff, and Cernicek tried to extend their lead, but was stopped by Brewer. The Amcats hoped to score another point and took two more shots on goal, but the Rams’ defense remained aggressive, with freshman Katie Creath and Webster blocking their shots. Only 13 seconds later, Webster netted the puck to put Framingham in the lead 4-2. The Rams kept momentum in their favor, and 29 seconds later, Brown broke through Brewer’s defense and brought the score to 5-2. Framingham won the next faceoff, and Murphy and Hogan took back-to-back shots on Anna Maria’s subbed-in goaltender Alyse Mutti. The Amcats regained possession of the puck and tried to find a gap in Chamoun’s pads with three shots in the following minute, but Chamoun did not let the puck past the goal line. Each team took three shots on goal in the next 4 minutes, but both defenses held firm, and no goals were scored. The game was 4-on-4 following minor penalties for both teams, and after another three saves by Chamoun, Amy Tansek widened the gap to 6-2, assisted by freshman Ella Conway. In the next 4 minutes, the Rams tried to net the puck five times, but all were stopped by Mutti. Chamoun stopped another four shots by the Amcats, while freshman Kristina Jones and Brien blocked one each. The Rams took the puck into their offensive zone once again, where Lewis took two shots on goal, and Creath took one. The second period ended with a power play goal by Anna Maria to bring the score to 6-3. The Amcats tried to carry the momentum into the third period, and they took the first shot on goal, but it went wide. Brown tried to find the back of the net after Framingham won the next faceoff, but was stopped by Anna Maria’s defense. Each team fought for control of the puck, with both teams taking two shots on goal, before the Rams took over offensively. Lewis tried to slap shot the puck past Mutti, and sophomore Lily Wilson went for the rebound, but couldn’t find the net. Brien made a wide shot toward the net, and 10 seconds later, she sent the puck toward Mutti, but was unable to break through her defense. The Amcats tallied five more shots on goal in the next 2 minutes, with two being stopped by Chamoun, two being wide, and the last being blocked by Murphy. Framingham took three of their own, but Anna Maria responded with another two shots before they scored short-handed to close the gap to 6-4. The Amcats tried to find the back of the net, but two of their attempts were saved by Chamoun, and their third was just wide. Hogan, Bogren, Cernicek, and Amy Tansek all took a shot each on goal, but could not break through Mutti’s defense. Anna Maria took another three shots on goal, the first being saved by Chamoun, the second being blocked by Amy Tansek, and the last being wide of the net. With less than a minute and a half remaining, Wilson scored on an empty net to secure the 7-4 lead for Framingham. The Amcats attempted to score in the last minute of the game with two shots on goal, but Chamoun ended strongly to keep the Rams’ victory 7-4. Chamoun saved 37 shots of the 41 she faced in the victory. She said, “The biggest thing for me is staying focused on the puck. I trust my defensemen to cover other threats, which allows me to have confidence and be aggressive when challenging the shooter.” Wilson said tallying her first goal of the season “just makes me want to keep getting more and more. We are getting towards the end of the season, so right now we’re all focused on getting as many wins in the conference.” Murphy said, “We kept the pressure on them the whole game and were very aggressive. The defense did an amazing job breaking pucks out. … We fell short-handed a couple of times in the third period, but we had trust in our penalty killers and just tried to play smart hockey from there to secure a win.” This conference win breaks their eight-game losing streak. Chamoun said, “Breaking the streak with a win where we scored so many goals is huge for our confidence. We know what we’re capable of, and that game really showed us. It gives us a lot of faith going into these next few games.” The Rams travel to Rivier University to face the Raiders in another conference matchup Jan. 31. Murphy said their main focus for the last half of the season is “winning more games. We have been progressing more as the season has gone on, and we show up to practice every day and work with each other to get better every day. “As a second-year team that is still growing, we know it’s not going to be easy, but we know that it’s important to stick with each other,” she added. Chamoun said, “Obviously, we have some games where we struggle, but we don’t dwell on it. We learn from every game whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing. Building consistency, trusting each other, and working hard every day is our focus, and we look to keep that going into the end of this season and into the next.”