Women’s ice hockey defeats Amcats in program’s first playoff appearance

Adrien Gobin / THE GATEPOST

By Izabela Gage Sports Editor In the MASCAC Quarterfinals, the fifth-seeded Rams made program history with their first-ever playoff appearance and win after scoring five goals in the third period to upset the fourth-seeded Anna Maria Amcats 6-2 Feb. 25. The Rams entered the playoffs with a conference record of 1-11 and an overall record of 5-20-1. Sophomore goaltender Lila Chamoun said winning in the playoffs is “an incredible feeling. After struggling last year for wins as a first-year program, it’s so awesome to see how far we’ve come.” Framingham started the action less than a minute after the first puck drop. Sophomore Petra Cernicek took the first shot on goal, which was saved by Anna Maria’s goaltender, Emma Brewer, followed by a wide shot by sophomore Alyssa Tansek. The Amcats took over offensively in the following minute with two shots, both of which were stopped by Chamoun. After four shot attempts by the Rams, Anna Maria took nine shots on net in the following 3 minutes, but four were saved by Chamoun, three were blocked by the Rams’ defense, and two were wide. Following a blocked shot by the Amcats, the Rams were on the penalty kill. Sophomore Amy Tansek took possession of the puck and tried to net a shorthanded goal, but was stopped by Brewer. Following the successful penalty kill by Framingham, Anna Maria took three back-to-back shots on net, but Chamoun stood tall in the net. The Amcats put the first point on the board with a minute-and-a-half remaining in the first period. The period wrapped up with four back-to-back shots by Anna Maria, three of which were saved by Chamoun, and one was stopped by freshman Katie Creath. The second period started with six saves by Chamoun and two by Brewer. Anna Maria was then put on the power play, in which one shot was saved by Chamoun, two were wide, and one was blocked. Back on even strength, AMC took four shots on goal, but FSU’s defense remained strong. The Rams took two of their own shots before freshman Molly Murphy tied the game 1-1. This goal gave Framingham some momentum, and they tried to break through Brewer’s defense seven times in the following 5 minutes. With a minute-and-a-half remaining in the second period, AMC tried to take the lead and tallied five shots on net, three of which Chamoun saved, and the other two were blocked by Amy Tansek and Murphy, respectively. Chamoun made two quick saves in the first 30 seconds of the third period before the Rams took control of the puck and took a shot on goal, but were unsuccessful. AMC attempted to break Chamoun’s defense three times, but was unable to, and freshman Alexis Brown netted the second goal for the Rams. Anna Maria took seven shots on goal in the next 3 minutes before they were able to tie the score once again. The Amcats remained aggressive, but the Rams’ defense didn’t falter, as they blocked three more shot attempts, and Chamoun saved one. Framingham was put on the power play, and Hogan took two shots on the net, and freshman Rylee Bogren took one, before Murphy took a 3-2 lead for the Rams with her second goal of the game. The Rams were put back on the power play after both a hit-after-whistle and a tripping penalty, and they tried to break through Brewer’s defense four times before Alyssa Tansek broke through to take a 2-point lead. After two shots by the Rams, both of which were saved by Brewer, the Amcats went empty net, and just over 40 seconds later, Brown scored unassisted, bringing the score to 5-2. In the next 16 seconds, Bogren and Cernicek tried to find the back of the net before Anna Maria took back offensive control, and they pulled their goalie once again. Chamoun faced four more shots by the Amcats, three of which she saved, and the last was blocked by Creath. The Rams won the following faceoff, and Murphy scored her third goal, making history with the program’s first-ever hat trick. The last minute closed out with one last shot attempt by the Amcats, which was blocked by Creath, and Framingham took a dominant 6-2 victory to move on to the semifinal game. Murphy said, “It was definitely an awesome feeling to be able to contribute to such a big win. It is good to have some success after a long season and coming up short in so many games.” Chamoun made an impressive 47 saves in the victory. She said, “Our defense did an amazing job keeping any threats to the outside, which helped me stay confident and aggressive. I wouldn’t be able to play the way I do without their support and skill.” Chamoun said the team was “able to pressure them enough to break the puck out pretty quickly, which helped us sway the momentum down to their defensive zone.” The Rams travel to Worcester State to face the first-seeded Lancers in the MASCAC Semifinals Feb. 27. Chamoun said after scoring six goals, the team knows what they’re capable of on offense. “We are going into the next game confident and ready to work our hardest. We’ve come a long way since the start of the year and are looking to extend the season as much as we can.” She said, “Don’t count out the Rams! We know we are just as capable as any other team, even as a new program.” Murphy said, “We are excited to move on and continue in the tournament, but we know it’s not going to be an easy win. We just need to stay focused, play our game, and work together.” She said as a second-year team, “This season wasn’t the best record-wise, but most of our games were tight scoring, and we have the potential to be very successful next year.” ¶