Spring Break
No. 1 URI women's club hockey team sweeps Colorado Buffaloes
Jim Thayer
Issue date: 11/13/08 Section: Sports
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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.
