Worcester, MA- The women's ice hockey team took on Anna Maria College at home tonight in their first conference game of the season. Worcester State was looking to kick off a conference campaign that would mirror their undefeated, championship 2021-22 ECHA season.
There was little doubt early on that the Lancers looked to be the better team tonight, as they controlled the play throughout the majority of the first period. Senior Katie Puumala (Framingham, Mass.) would crack the scoresheet first, putting the Lancers up 1-0 on a powerplay goal a little over 11 minutes into the game. Worcester State would add another first period goal to the scoreboard just minutes later on a second-chance shot credited to sophomore Kiersten Erikson (Broomfield, Colo.). Though the Anna Maria scoring chances were few and far between, senior goalie Amber Lee (Fairlawn, NJ) provided a stable backbone for the WSU defense throughout the first.
Up 2-0 heading into the second period, Worcester State padded their lead almost immediately when freshman Jannarae Bateman (Forest Lake, Minn.) stick handled the puck into the slot and beat the Anna Maria goalie less than two minutes into the action. Though they would not score again in the second, a pair of Lancer shots found the post as there were scoring chances a-plenty. With twenty minutes to go, Worcester State led 3-0.
The Lancers would bend in the third period, but not break. While on a power play, a loose puck out in front of Amber Lee found an Amcat stick that resulted in Anna Maria's first goal of the game, coming shorthanded less than four minutes into the third. The score remained 3-1 until the final minute of the game, when Anna Maria pulled their goalie and pushed a deflected puck past the Lancer's last line of defense to pull within one. However, AMC would play with fire again, pulling their goalie again and leaving their net empty, which Katie Puumala took complete advantage of as she netted her second of the night with 16 seconds remaining.
When the final siren sounded the Lancers came out on top with a 4-2 victory in their conference opener. Anna Maria College comes out of this evening's battle now 2-13-2 on the season. The Lancers, now 9-6, will be right back on home ice Friday night at 8pm for a prime time non-conference battle with Western New England University.