2008 Woodie Awards
Women's hockey team places third at ACHA national championship
Matt Pavao
Issue date: 3/13/08 Section: Sports
03/13/08 - The Rams entered the American Collegiate Hockey Association's Tournament with a strong showing, but not strong enough to secure another national championship.
The Rams went into the tournament as the No. 2 seed after an undefeated regular season and continued that spree in the early rounds. In pool play, the Rams beat the University of Michigan and Northern Michigan University by a combined score of 12-3 and then defeated the University of Minnesota 6-2.
The team was on a roll, but in the semifinals against the fourth seed and host team, Robert Morris College, the Rams fell 3-1 in a close game. URI fell behind 2-1 late in the game and was unable to drive another one into the net before Robert Morris added an insurance goal to put the game away.
"It was a neck and neck game from the beginning," head coach Beth McCann said. "Some of their players are just a little bigger and stronger than ours and that's where we had our downfall. Our goaltender Lynn [Pecci] played phenomenal and the forwards fought to the end."
Losing its first game of the ACHA season was a tough way to end the year for Rhode Island.
"It is kind of tough to take because of how hard you work and it all comes down to one game and it kind of slipped away," McCann said. "The seniors, Pecci, Ashley Pagliarini and Chelsea Skorupski, took it hard because they worked hard for four years and we had it in our sights. We could envision seeing us win that championship."
The team did rebound from the loss to defeat the University of Massachusetts 3-1 in the third place game. Despite going into the tournament with eyes on a championship, McCann was still happy with the team.
"We have nothing to hang our heads about," McCann said. "Considering how much support some of the teams we played against had, I consider ourselves very much on top. It was a very successful tournament even though we wanted to make it to the finals. I think we earned respect with our play."
With the season coming to an end the future looks bright for women's hockey, which will be enjoying its 10th year at URI next season.
"We're definitely going to be in contention next year," McCann said. "URI is a dominant force on the East Coast and we'll continue to dive forward."
The Rams went into the tournament as the No. 2 seed after an undefeated regular season and continued that spree in the early rounds. In pool play, the Rams beat the University of Michigan and Northern Michigan University by a combined score of 12-3 and then defeated the University of Minnesota 6-2.
The team was on a roll, but in the semifinals against the fourth seed and host team, Robert Morris College, the Rams fell 3-1 in a close game. URI fell behind 2-1 late in the game and was unable to drive another one into the net before Robert Morris added an insurance goal to put the game away.
"It was a neck and neck game from the beginning," head coach Beth McCann said. "Some of their players are just a little bigger and stronger than ours and that's where we had our downfall. Our goaltender Lynn [Pecci] played phenomenal and the forwards fought to the end."
Losing its first game of the ACHA season was a tough way to end the year for Rhode Island.
"It is kind of tough to take because of how hard you work and it all comes down to one game and it kind of slipped away," McCann said. "The seniors, Pecci, Ashley Pagliarini and Chelsea Skorupski, took it hard because they worked hard for four years and we had it in our sights. We could envision seeing us win that championship."
The team did rebound from the loss to defeat the University of Massachusetts 3-1 in the third place game. Despite going into the tournament with eyes on a championship, McCann was still happy with the team.
"We have nothing to hang our heads about," McCann said. "Considering how much support some of the teams we played against had, I consider ourselves very much on top. It was a very successful tournament even though we wanted to make it to the finals. I think we earned respect with our play."
With the season coming to an end the future looks bright for women's hockey, which will be enjoying its 10th year at URI next season.
"We're definitely going to be in contention next year," McCann said. "URI is a dominant force on the East Coast and we'll continue to dive forward."