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The University of Maine women’s hockey team started off the season on the right skate, destroying Sacred Heart University over the weekend in a two-game series, by a combined score of 18-0.
The first of the two meetings took place on Friday, with the Black Bears scoring two minutes into the first period. It was the first power play opportunity for the Black Bears when junior defender Ashley Norum scored off of passes by sophomore center Brittany Dougherty and junior captain right wing Dawn Sullivan.
A second defender chimed in with a goal, as sophomore Chloe Tinkler doubled the Black Bear lead off assists by Dougherty and junior left wing Danielle Ward.
It took just two more minutes for the Black Bears to add a third goal, when junior left wing Myriam Croussette stole the puck deep in Sacred Heart territory and proceeded to set up senior right wing Jennie Gallo for the goal.
UMaine continued to control the game in the second period, maintaining the puck and pace of play.
The Black bears added their only goal of the period with seven minutes to go, as junior center Dominique Goutsis put the power play goal in off of passes by Croussette and junior defender Melissa Gagnon.
UMaine blew open what seemed to be a large enough lead in the third period, scoring three goals in less than three minutes. Eight different Black Bears contributed on the final three goals, which were put in by Dougherty, freshman defender Kayla Kaluzny and Gallo consecutively. Ward, Sullivan, Croussette, Goutsis and freshman center Jenny Kistner all contributed with assists.
“We were working as a team,” Sullivan said. “Bewteen our practices and Coach [Maria Lewis] motivating us, we were able to put some things together.”
The second game, which took place on Saturday, was much of the same for the Black Bears. After a first period once again dominated by UMaine only produced one goal by Ward, the Black Bears opened the scoring up in the second period.
Just two and a half minutes into the second, UMaine doubled their lead after Goutsis scored her second goal of the weekend, assisted by Gallo and Gagnon.
The Black Bears scored in bunches again, this time three goals in three minutes to put the game out of reach. Kistner scored the second goal of the period off the assist by sophomore forward Brianne Kilgour.
UMaine’s fourth goal of the day came midway through the second period when freshman forward Kerry Mayhew scored off the assists by Tinkler and Gallo.
It took just 13 seconds for the Black Bears to add their fifth, when freshman forward Kristi King took the initial faceoff win and put her first goal in the back of the net.
The Black Bears added their sixth of the day when Dougherty added her second goal of the weekend with five minutes to go in the second period, off passes by Sullivan and Ward.
The final period featured much of the same, with the Black Bears wasting little time to match the previous game’s goal total. Less than a minute in, Croussette scored her second of the game off assists by Kaluzny and Dougherty.
The Black Bears added four more in the period, by Ward, Croussette, Kilgour and Tinkler respectively, with Sullivan, Dougherty, Goutsis, Kilgour and Kistner all chiming in with assists.
The Black Bears out shot Sacred Heart 112-31 during the two game series, and controlled the majority of the matches.
“We focused on communication and tried to win every battle,” Ward said.
The Black Bears have a two week period until their next game, which they will use to improve on their first two victories.
“We’re going to keep the tempo in practice up, make sure we’re practicing at game speed,” Sullivan said. “It’s still early in the season, we’re trying to work with our line-mates and get adjusted to them.”
The Black Bears return to action on October 9 against Mercyhurst College.
