NORTH ADAMS, MA (MyKeeneNow) The top line of the Keene State College women’s ice hockey team accounted for seven of the Owls’ nine points in their 4-1 victory over the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts on Tuesday night, as each of the forwards, Paige Henault, Ava Iantosca, and Brianna Finke each tallied a goal in the win. 

Records

  • Keene State: 10-6 
  • MCLA: 7-8 (1-4 MASCAC) 

How it Happened

The Owls started on the attack early on in the contest as Juliette Barney was forced to make three saves in goal for the Trailblazers in the opening 1:26 of play. A few minutes later, MCLA had a scoring chance of their own but KSC’s goaltender, Makenna Montgomery’s back-to-back saves helped keep the scoreless early on. Both netminders continued to hold their ground in 5-on-5 play over the next seven minutes, with Barney making seven saves, to two from Montgomery, as the Owls went on the power play 12:08 into the period for the first time in the contest. KSC was unable to convert on the extra skater opportunity as Barney saved all three shots on target over the two-minute advantage. The rest of the period Barney saved a pair of shots, while nothing reached Montgomery in goal, as both of the shots from MCLA was blocked by Haylee Owen and the teams went into the second scoreless. 

Both teams traded shots on goal in the opening four minutes of the second, but the Owls did not stop pressuring Barney in goal the rest of the period. After Barney made three more saves over the next few minutes, the Owls were finally able to find the back of the net. Iantosca’s faceoff win eventually led to Henault finding Finke for the opening goal of the contest, 9:53 into the second period. Three minutes later, the first line struck again, with Iantosca winning another faceoff, leading to her own goal, coming from Finke and Henault 19 seconds later to put KSC up 2-0. Barney was able to save the next three shots from the Owls, but with 58 seconds left in the period, Finke found Henault in front of the goal alone, as she scored her seventh goal of the season, for the third goal from the Owls’ top line on the day. Montgomery kept the Trailblazers off the board by making a save in the closing seconds of the period, for her fifth save of the period, as KSC headed into the final 20 minutes of play up by three. 

At 1:48 into the third period, MCLA got a great opportunity to start to make their comeback attempt, as the Owls were called for a penalty. The Trailblazers were unable to record a shot on goal over the two minutes, as the only shot on goal over the two minutes came from KSC, as Barney saved Madison Mosca’s shot, preventing her from scoring a goal in her third game in a row. 4:57 into the third, KSC had their second power play opportunity of the game, but MCLA stopped the Owls’ offensive barrage by Barney making three saves and the MCLA defense blocking a shot to kill off the penalty. Barney made three more saves shortly after, which lead to a break on the other end of the ice for the Trailblazers, as Alexandrea Bednar scored her 10th goal of the season to pull MCLA within a pair with 11:43 remaining. Five minutes later, MCLA another opportunity to cut into KSC’s lead on the power play, but Montgomery made a pair of saves on the penalty kill to kill off the Trailblazers’ power play. In the closing five minutes of the game, KSC’s only shot on goal came with an empty net as with 1:34 left to play, Emma McNeil skated into the offensive zone and ripped a shot past a Trailblazer defender into the goal for her second of the year, coming from Caroline Demeo for her first career collegiate point. Montgomery’s save in the last minute helped KSC close the door on a 4-1 victory on the day over two new Owls, Mallory Stuart and Abby Pomajba’s, former team. 

Inside the Crease

  • Montgomery recorded 12 saves in net as she picked up her third consecutive win in a row. 
  • Henault and Finke both finished with three points apiece, coming from a goal and two assists each. 
  • KSC dominated on faceoffs, going 33-for-51 (64.6%), with Iantosca leading the way going 13-for-18 (72.2%). 
  • Both teams went 0-2 on power plays. KSC has done a great job recently staying out of the box, as KSC has only averaged two penalties per game over the past three games, after recording 18 across the two games prior to that. 
  • While Barney made 38 saves in net, her defense helped her from having to make more saves, as her defense blocked 19 shots, including three Trailblazers with four blocks apiece. 

Up Next

Keene State continues their stretch of six games in nine days with their fourth game of the stretch on Wednesday, January 15, at 8:40 PM in their fourth matchup of the season against Rivier University, as the Owls look for the four-game sweep across the season. 

MCLA next plays in a week, as they will travel to take on Framingham State University on Tuesday, January 21, at 5:40 PM.