Women’s hockey wins weekend series against UMass

The woman’s DI hockey team had a slow start when they took the ice Saturday, Oct. 12, but eventually found their grove and exploded during the third period. 

During their first regular season game on home ice, they did not disappoint, bringing their record to 2-2 and finishing the game 5-1, dominating UMass in the final period. 

“We played 30 to 40 decent minutes today,” Head Coach Chris Lowes said. “The second period we struggled, and we looked a little lazy, but the third was nice for us. It was nice to finish with the best period of play.”

The Lady Flames did a great job on the defensive end, shutting out UMass for the entire first and third periods.  Freshman goalie Kayla Savoie-Penton would stop the Minutemen from attempting any comeback, cementing her second win. 

“I wanted to play my best today,” Savoie-Penton said. “I looked over some game footage of what I did before, and I think my trust for the defensemen helped me.”

Throughout the slow start, the Flames would continue missing shots on the goal, until senior Alex Smibert shot the puck down the center of the goal to give the Flames the lead. 

“Our drive was pretty slow because we’ve played them before and they haven’t been as tough in the past,” Smibert said. “We figured out that we needed to pick it up because they normally don’t give us a good game.”

In the second, the Lady Flames continued to press the Minutemen, but they would go on to score, bringing the game to 1-1.  Both teams seemed evenly matched as they passed the puck up and down the ice, leaving the game at a standstill until the third period hit.  

Right out of the gate, freshman Yannick Truter scored two back-to-back goals, putting the Flames up 3-1. Graduate Valeriia Manchak and sophomore Aislyn Stretch helped assist these goals.  

“Yannick has had a great start and the line did so well today,” Lowes said. “But those two quick goals turned our momentum.  However, we will never play those mythical 60 minutes of play.” 

The drive to win would not end there, and senior Vanessa DeMerchant would slam home a shot assisted by Smibert.  Finally hitting a power play goal with less than four minutes left in the game, junior Shelby Bradford would knock in a shot just over the goal line, leaving the score at 5-1.  

Liberty beat UMass 9-2 Sunday, Oct. 13, to cap off the two-game series. The Lady Flames will embark on a four-game road trip at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University of Rhode Island. They will return to home ice Oct. 25 against Adrian College at 6:30 p.m.