William Smith hockey scored twice in the opening period and controlled play throughout a 4-1 SUNYAC victory over Morrisville on Saturday afternoon at The Cooler, snapping a six-game losing streak.
The Herons set the tone early, opening the scoring just 95 seconds into the game on a power-play goal and adding a second tally midway through the first period to take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission. William Smith carried that momentum through the rest of the contest, finishing with a 32-20 advantage in shots on goal.
Rowan Kennedy paced the offense with a goal and an assist, while Tara Valas contributed two assists. Bella Hacker and Anna Tardiff also scored for the Herons, with Tardiff recording the first goal of her collegiate career. Ainsley Lonczak added an insurance goal early in the third period to push the lead to four.
Junior Julia Chase anchored the win in goal, stopping 19 shots over 60 minutes. Morrisville’s Gabrielle Brazeau finished with 28 saves, while Lindsey Dirant scored the Mustangs’ lone goal on a late power play with just over a second remaining in regulation.
William Smith capitalized once on six power-play opportunities and held Morrisville to one goal on three chances with the extra skater. The Herons limited second-chance opportunities and protected the middle of the ice as they closed out the conference win.
With the victory, William Smith improved to 8-9-0 overall and 4-2-0 in SUNYAC play. Morrisville fell to 3-14-0 and 1-5-0 in conference action.
William Smith returns to the ice next weekend, January 30-31, for a home-and-home series against Buffalo State, playing Friday in Buffalo before hosting Saturday at The Cooler.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].