Lancers Kick Off Season with Battle with Western New England

Worcester, MA- Kicking off the Worcester State Winter Sports Season, the Worcester State Women's Ice Hockey team hosted Western New England on home ice this afternoon. 

Final

Worcester State: 1

Western New England: 3

How it Happened:

The opening period of action would see the Lancers on the defensive early led by senior Kelsey Czerniawski (Chicopee, MA). Worcester would work to find their offensive stride but the Golden Bears held most of the possession in the first, recording 14 shots to Worcester's six attempts. Even with the offensive pressure of Western New England, the Lancers defense would put up a tight front, forcing away each and every attempt to keep the game scoreless. 

After a scoreless 1st period, Worcester looked to capitalize in the second and did just that. After claiming their first power play opportunity of the game junior Abbey Millman (Georgetown, MA) would find the gap, scoring the opening point for the Lancers assisted by senior Cailey Ryan (Acton, MA) and sophomore Avery Ireland (Longmeadow, MA) to give them a 1-0 lead. Czerniawski would again record 14 saves in the period on some nailbiting attempts to deny the Golden Bears. 

Opening up the closing period Western New England would be on the hunt to reclaim their momentum, something they accomplished quickly as they capitalized with a quick score by Mabel Gerard assisted by Michaela Birmingham to tie the game up at 1 all with 14 minutes of play remaining. They followed that up quickly by taking a 2-1 lead just seconds later. The Lancers had a scoring opportunity of their own but were unable to capitalize on it. With just four minutes remaining Western New England would grab the third and final goal. Worcester would aim to cut into the lead in the final minutes, even pulling the keeper for the extra skater, but were unable to recreate their second period magic, falling to the Golden Bears 3-1.

What's Next:

Worcester State (0-1, 0-0) will begin their round journeys tomorrow as they head to New England College for a 2pm puck drop.