No. 1 URI women's club hockey team sweeps Colorado Buffaloes

11/13/08 - The University of Rhode Island women's ice hockey team took No. 1 in the East Region this weekend after defeating the University of Colorado on Friday and Sunday. The Rams out-shot Colorado in every period of both games, and out-scored them 13-2, winning Friday's game 5-0 and Sunday's afternoon match-up 8-2.

Rhode Island head coach Beth McCann was pleased with the outcome of the weekend.

"Colorado is tough every year," she said after Sunday's game. "We definitely knew it was going to be a challenge. We grew a lot as a team this weekend."

Along with beating Colorado, the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) ranked the Rams No. 1 in the East Region, along with No. 1 nationally in club hockey.

Friday night the Rams put the pressure on Colorado early and did not let up. They out-shot the Buffaloes 10-4 in the first period, but didn't score.

The Rams broke the deadlock in the second period, blowing the game wide open. The Buffaloes couldn't do anything with a five-on-three advantage early in the period due to penalties. The rest of the period was all Rhode Island.

The first goal of the night came off the stick of junior Jolene Rambone at 5:57 in the period. Freshman Johanna Leskinen assisted the goal.

Rambone and Leskinen weren't done yet. When Rambone's next shot was deflected by Colorado goalie Ashleigh Lang, sophomore Justine Ducie was there to pick it up and to shoot a wrister for Rhode Island's second goal of the night, at 11:07 of the period.

The Rams' next goal of the period came three minutes later at 14:01 during a power play. With the five-on-four advantage, junior Jennifer Bragger passed to senior Kate Garcia, who scored on a shot and put the Rams up 3-0.

Colorado didn't seem to have any counter attack and was out-shot 16-8 in the period. Garcia tacked on another goal with only a few minutes left, coming off a pass from sophomore Rachel MacDonald. With four seconds left in the period, Rambone added another goal, giving the Rams' their fifth and final of the game. Ducie assisted the goal.

Sunday's game saw a similar outcome. The Rams were able to score early, and they scored often. With 11:56 played in the first period, junior Nicole Oullette scored off a pass from freshman Danika Korpacz.

A little more than a minute later, the Rams scored again on a power play after Colorado's Morgan Brandt received a two-minute penalty for interference.

Their second goal of the night came at 13:04, when Ducie got the puck from freshman Kelsey Joseph and Rambone.

With a little less than five minutes left to play in the first period, the Rams scored one more time. At 15:08, after a shot was deflected by the Colorado goalie, Korpacz scored again off a pass from sophomore Caroline Greene.

Frustration seemed to set in for Colorado toward the end of the period, when they started committing careless penalties.

With two minutes left in the period, the Rams had a five-on-three advantage that they couldn't turn into a goal, but at that point it was already 3-0. The Buffaloes were only able to get three shots on goal in the period, opposed to Rhode Island's 18.

Near the midway point in the second period, the Rams scored their fourth goal of the game. At 7:25, Leskinen made a spectacular through-the-legs pass back to Rambone, who scored.

About a minute later, Colorado scored their first goal of the weekend. A shot was deflected by Rhode Island goalie and freshman Chelsea Keach, and it was then picked up by Ashley Abrams, who passed to Kaitlyn Gherity for Colorado's first goal of the game.

Colorado was out-shot once again by the Rams in the second period, 20-6. Colorado could only get six more shots off in the game, and found themselves down 5-1 after 14 seconds in the third.

Brandt was called for tripping with less than two minutes left in the second period, so as the final period began, the Rams were still in a power play.

With 14 seconds played, Leskinen scored again from a pass by Ducie. The Rams were on the offensive again, and freshman Daria Olink scored Rhode Island's sixth goal off a pass from Garcia.

Colorado would score once more in the game, at 9:04 in the third period. The rest of the game was all Rhody, as freshman Jessica Morgrillo scored a power play goal at 19:52 with the assist going to junior Michelle Paquin, and another Rambone-Leskinen combo at 18:58 on a power play would make it 8-2.

After the game, McCann was pleased with the results from the weekend. Colorado has been tough year after year according to McCann, and they are always a difficult challenge.

McCann said, "After the first rankings, we're seeded first. We have to take one game at a time, because the best is yet to come. We still have a lot of challenging games ahead of us."

She also felt that her team "grew a lot" this weekend. They will host Northeastern University at the Boss Ice Arena at 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 16.