Worcester State Women's Ice Hockey Clinches #1 Seed in ECHA Tournament for Second Straight Year

Worcester, MA- Coming off their first conference loss of the season, Worcester State's Women's Ice Hockey team took home ice this evening looking to get back into the win column. Their opponents came in the form of the Rivier University Raiders. 

Before the puck was dropped, Worcester State honored eight seniors for Senior Night. Those recognized were: 

#2 Kelly Robbins (Tyngsboro, Mass.) 

#12 Shelby Reaugh (Raleigh, NC) 

#15 Emily Pavoni (Granby, Mass.) 

#21 Katie Puumala (Framingham, Mass.) 

#26 Brandi Lee (Nashua, NH) 

#32 Cassidhe Wozniak (Turner Falls, Mass.) 

#70 Amber Lee (Fairlawn, NJ) 

#77 Trinity White (Sandwich, Mass.) 

Though the ceremony ended, the fun for the senior members of the Lancers squad was just getting started. Senior Katie Puumala wasted no time getting the Lancers on top, beating the Rivier goalie high glove side less than a minute into the action. Worcester State showed complete on-ice dominance through the first period, staying on the attack throughout and extending their lead to 2-0 before the first intermission. The second Lancer goal scorer was another senior, Cassidhe Wozniak. She benefited from a second-chance opportunity, backhanding a rebound short side past the last line of Rivier defense. 

There was no scoring throughout most of the first half of the second period, but with just over 10 minutes left, another Lancer senior put the puck in the back of the net. Junior Sydney Vautour (South Hamilton, Mass.) drew the Raider goalie out to open up the right side of the net. A quick pass to her senior line mate Emily Pavoni who flicked the frozen biscuit in with a backhander and the Lancers were up 3-0. Rivier would pull back within two on the power play with a little over three minutes to go in the period, so the score settled at 3-1 as the teams headed to their locker rooms for the second intermission. 

Worcester State would add some insurance in the third period via a first year Caroline Gates (Natick, Mass.) goal. 4-1 would remain the score until the final siren, as the Lancers penalty kill proved handy in the final period. 

The Lancers will close out their regular season tomorrow, with a quick turnaround for the latter half of a home-and-away series with Rivier with puck drop scheduled for 7:30 p.m.