The women’s ice hockey team avenged an embarrassing 9-0 loss against Skidmore College Saturday, winning 3-2 in the last minutes of the game.
“We came [into the game] focused and played hard,” sophomore assistant captain Erica Contini said.
The women first took on Skidmore Nov. 3 at the Genessee Valley Ice Rink.
The win was even more amazing since head coach Dave Maksymiu was unable to attend.
“It was definitely tough not having a coach at the game, but everyone on the team stepped up and did what they had to do,” said Contini.
The first period set the tone for the rest of the game for the Yellowjackets. Skidmore was held scoreless by Take Five Scholar and goalie Awista Ayub backed by a great defense.
“We allowed no goals during the first period which really helped keep our momentum up for the last two periods,” Contini said.
But in the beginning of the second period, Skidmore picked up their play. Skidmore scored two goals against the Yellow- jackets, the first off a power play. UR went into the third period facing what seemed to be a familiar sight against Skidmore ? a shut out.
With focus and determination, the Yellowjackets came back on the ice for the final period of the game. Senior Kate Donhauser scored the first of two goals for UR at the beginning of the period.
Donhauser shot the puck and was deflected. She rebounded the puck and scored to move UR within one.
The next goal came from the stick of junior Nicole Keterrer midway through the third period off an assist from freshman Niki Reitz. The game was now tied up at two a piece.
With 3:15 remaining in the game, Donhauser smacked the puck into the back of the net to score the game winner.
“We did not let the fact that we were down 2-0 after two periods affect the tone for the rest of the game,” Ayub said.
“[Ayub] had an awesome game, probably the best she’s played all season,” Contini said.
Their overall record now stands at 2-5.
The women’s ice hockey team began their season back in late October, but have been on their winter break since Dec. 1.
This season, the women have extented their schedule over last years. The Yellowjackets have increased their schedule to 12 games, up from eight during the 2000-2001 season.
The Yellowjackets finish their season on the road over the next five weeks. They next take on the University of Buffalo at the Pepsi Center in Buffalo Saturday.
However, the Yellowjackets will have to play without senior captain Heidi Jensen who is out for the remainder of the season with a leg injury.
Cupp can be reached at dcupp@campustimes.org.
