Last week, the NWHL had a bye week, so that gave teams extra time to prepare for games this weekend. The Whale, looking to get their first win of the season, squared off against the Beauts, who came off a loss yesterday to the Boston Pride. It would be Whale go-to goalie Sonija Shelly in net for Connecticut and Kelsey Neumann in net for Buffalo.
In the first period, it would be a quick start for the Whale, trying to capitalize on early momentum. However, Neumann would stop every shot attempt in the period. The same went for Shelly, who didn’t have as much work to do in the period. Only one penalty was called in the period, and it would be against the Whale’s veteran defender Jordan Brickner. The Beauts would fail to capitalize on the power play. The period ended scoreless, however the Whale would lead in the shot on goal department 13-4.
Action would pick up in the second period, as the Beauts would strike first, 30 seconds into the period. The goal coming from Taylor Accursi, with the assists coming from Lenka Curmova and Iveta Klimasova. The teams would trade chances back and forth, with the goalies coming up large for both teams. The period would end with the Whale down 1-0 and again out-shooting the Beauts 12-10 in the period.
In the third period, the Beauts would double their lead 13 minutes into the period, with a goal from Erin Gehen. Assists on the play would come from Brooke Stacey and Cassidy MacPherson. The Beauts weren’t allowed to be comfortable though, as less than 2 minutes later, the Whale would get one, to cut the lead in half. The goal coming from Kayla Meneghin, it would be her team leading 3rd goal of the season. She has scored at least a goal in the last 3 games that she’s played. Assists on the play came from Sarah Schwenzfeier, her 2nd point of the season, and Jordan Brickner, her 6th point of the season, and tied for the team lead. That would be the closest the Whale could get, as with a minute left in the period, the Beauts would net an empty net goal. The goal coming from Kim Brown, assists on the play came from Brooke Stacey, her second point of the game, and Marie – Jo Pelletier.
Final stats for the goalies were Neumann for the Beauts faced 42 shots and came up with 41 saves. Sonija Shelly turned in a good performance too, she faced 25 shots and came up with 23 saves.
The next game for the Whale will be against the league leading Boston Pride. The start time for the game will be 630p in Boston at Warrior Ice Arena. Should be a good game, as it will be the first game of the year where the Whale will face their former captain Emily Fluke.
Fundraisers
For those keeping track at home, Shannon Doyle turned in 1 blocked shot for the game today, giving her a total of 17 blocks on the year. She is donating a $1 for every block she records for her fundraiser Blocks For Books. Here is the link for those who want to make a donation too:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/1s6bzhbt5c
Also, for those keeping track at home, Kendra Broad had 2 shots on goal today, giving her a total of 8 shots on goal for the season. She is also donating $2 for every shot on goal for Mental Health Connecticut. Here is a link for those who want to make a donation too:
https://mhconn.networkforgood.com/projects/83116-kendra-broad-s-fundraiser
Support our friend’s Kickstarter campaign for Star Con today!
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