The Oswego State women's ice hockey team played Utica to a 2-2 draw on Tuesday afternoon. Although the win streak has been snapped, the Lakers still have gone ten-straight games without a loss. The team's record now sits at 11-2-1 overall and 7-1-1 in the ECAC West. Utica moves to 5-5-3 on the year and 3-2-2 in the conference.
The Lakers started off slow, giving a fluky goal to go in just 55 seconds into the first. Goalie Bridget Smith was flustered by a slow, bouncing puck that came in from an awkward angle, allowing it to go right through the five-hole. The Pioneers would take the 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
Going into the second period, Oswego seemed like a different team. Olivia Ellis was the first to capitalize for the Lakers scoring at the 14:16 mark. Rachel Lenard passed the puck from behind the net to Andrea Noss who in turn gave it to Ellis, who was able to jam it past the goalie's pads. Ellis wasn't finished there though, as just 1:55 later, the Wilcox, Saskatchewan native beat the Utica goaltender again on the powerplay. This time Kendall Appelbaum took a slapper from the blue line that deflected off the pad of the Pioneer goalie and Ellis was able to corral the puck and slide it into the net.
Entering the third period, Oswego held a solid 2-1 lead. Utica didn't give in though and was able to tie it up on an Emily Coope goal with 6:52 remaining in the game. The score would remain two a-piece for the rest of regulation.
In the overtime period, Oswego found themselves a player up as Utica got called for to many women on the ice. Early during the powerplay, Ellis found herself on the doorstep of a hat-trick. The freshman gained the zone, deked the Utica defender and beat the goalie high, only to be thwarted by the crossbar. Utica killed the powerplay and everything remained even until the last seconds of overtime. It was here, Utica cleared the puck from its own zone to a wide open Louise Norton-Steele with under ten seconds remaining. Norton-Steele found herself on a break away with the clock winding down. She took the puck in on Smith and tried to beat her glove side, but Smith stone-walled the shot and time expired.
Smith ended the day with 37 saves.
Women's ice hockey will return to action at 3 p.m. on Saturday as it heads north to square off against Plattsburgh.
