By Janet Schultz, NYHOL
After a brief winter break, WNY’s women’s ice hockey schedule is filling up.
Buffalo State is 9-5-0 overall as they look toward a full SUNYAC schedule in the coming weeks.
Dakota Carlson leads the scoring with 10 goals and 8 assists, followed by WNY’s Vanessa Willick, who has 8 goals and 6 assists this season. Goalkeeper Casey Horrigan has been in goal for 60 minutes with a shutout. Alexa Todd was the favorite goaltender with 484.30 minutes between the pipes and a .934 save percentage with a 4-3-0 record, including a shutout.
Carlson and Todd received Buffalo State Athlete of the Week awards in December, while Todd won SUNYAC Goaltender of the Week on January 20 for her 42 saves in a 1-1 tie with #5 Nazareth College.
Across town, Hilbert College is 1-13-1 overall, facing rival UCHC Elmira next weekend (Jan. 23). Victoria Battaglia has played in 15 games and scored 5 goals and 7 assists to top the Hawks scoring charts. Jacqueline Alaburda is second with 3 goals and 3 assists and in third place is Rome’s Kelsey Fuller with 2 goals and 7 assists. Goaltender Brook Thompson has played 381.32 minutes with an 0-5-1 record and a .942 save percentage. Both goaltenders Jewel Monford and Tia Card have seen action this season, with Card getting the “W” for the Hawks.
Nazareth College is having a winning season thus far with a record of 14-0-1. That 2-2 tie came against Buffalo State College as the new year opened the second part of the season. They now face Chatham and Utica Colleges in the next two weeks.
Amy Laskowski has 16 goals and 10 assists for 26 points and leads the Hawks in scoring with Meredith Boettcher, 9 goals, 8 assists and Brooke Judiewicz (East Concord) with 4 goals and 12 assists. New York’s MacKenzie Garrow (Akwesasne) and Natalya Garivodsky (Brooklyn) also contributed to the Hawk’s winning streak.
In goal, Mia Gonslaves was named Empire Goal of the Week on January 5. It was her third honor this season after making 17 saves against Salve Regina. She has the record of 14-0-1 with 904.4 minutes in net and a .924 save percentage.
The newest addition to women’s ice hockey in WNY is St. John Fisher. Under Coach Scott McDonald, the team is 5-9-1 overall. Leading the scoring is Sophia Grant with 5 goals and 3 assists for 8 points, followed by Keira Reckley with 4 goals and 3 assists. New Yorker’s Cecelia Stewart (Buffalo/Nichols School) has 3 assists; Nicole Doeringer (Amherst Knights) from Batavia has 3 goals and 1 assists; Erin Lantry (Massena) 2 goals/3 assists; Maddie Southwick (Tupper Lake) 1 assist. In Goal, Brynn Bacak (Williamsville/Nichols School) has played 840.5 minutes with a 5-8-1 record and a .942 save percentage. Goalkeeper Elizabeth Poole has had one start, logging 58.39 minutes in losses.
The RIT women’s team is 13-13-0 overall and 9-9-0 in the conference as they enter the second half of the season. Their five-match winning streak was broken with a double defeat against Mercyhurst in the first games after the winter break. They now face Brown University, Lindenwood, Syracuse and Penn State to complete the season.
Rochester’s Addie Alvarez leads the scoring with 9 goals/17 assists; but she is joined by Emma Pickering with 11 goals/15 assists. Brac Kelley follows with 10 goals and 9 assists.
In goal, Sophia Bellina has logged 1,245.22 minutes in 22 games played and is 11-11-0 with two shutouts. Brenna McNamara has played 307.59 minutes and is 2-2-0.
Pickering was named AHA Defender of the Week on Dec. 6 as RIT celebrated its 50th year of ice hockey. Till Keranen was named AHA Rookie of the Week after she scored the winning goal with 57 seconds left in regulation time to beat Delaware 3-2.
In ACHA action:
Niagara University’s D1 team (aboe file photo 2024-25) has played 16 games and is 7-7-0-2 with 16 points as an independent. They will play Liberty, the University of Arizona and the University of Massachusetts in the coming weeks.
The D2 team, which plays in the CHE, is 3-4-0 after seven games and will play against RIT, Mercyhurst, West Virginia and Robert Morris in the coming weeks.
Brockport University is 0-6-0; RIT is 5-2-0 and Oswego is 0-1-0.
There is plenty of hockey action in WNY and the games are open to the public. A great opportunity to see fast and skilled hockey locally. Please visit the relevant university website for ticket information. Many games are accessible for free.
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