HERSHEY, Pa. – A late third period rally came up short for the Hood College women's ice hockey team, with the Blazers falling 3-1 to Middle Atlantic Conference foe Lebanon Valley College.
Inside the Box Score
Emily Cross (Bryantown, Md./Tri-City Eagles) scored Hood's lone goal and blocked five shots.
Maggie Grijalva (Fullerton, Ca./Anaheim Lady Ducks AAA) made 41 saves in the loss.
How it Happened
The Flying Dutchmen's offense came out hot, putting the Blazers on defense immediately with the help of a penalty less than a minute into the game. Despite ripping shots, Grijalva kept everything in front of her, eventually allowing Hood to break out and get its first shots of the game. Although neither went in, the Blazers were able to settle things down and a more even pace of play began. That pace was broken with five minutes left, as LVC managed to score twice in 1:10 of playtime to suddenly put
Hood in a 2-0 hole after the first period.
Again, the Flying Dutchmen were able to get shots on goal at the start of the period, but again, Grijalva was there to stop each one. After that, the Blazers began to maintain offensive zone time, forcing LVC goalie Mia Frisoni to make several saves, especially after an interference call put Hood on the power play. No one could score on the advantage, though, and a pair of penalties within 30 seconds of each other gave the Flying Dutchmen a 5-on-3 for more than 90 seconds. As she has done all season though, Grijalva became a brick wall in net, stopping all eight shots she faced to keep the Blazers within striking distance. No progress would be made during the second period though, with the visitors still down a pair heading into the final frame.
Coming out into the third period, Hood had more than a minute of power play leftover from the end of the second, but again could not capitalize, and LVC made it pay, scoring its third goal of the game just under four minutes into the period.
More shots came Grijalva's way after the goal, but a cross-checking penalty put the Blazers up a player for the fourth time, and that would be their lucky number of tries as Cross got Hood on the board with more than 11 minutes to attempt a comeback. The attempt seemed to end as quickly as it had started though, with the Blazers only getting three more shots on goal the rest of the period before the buzzer sounded to end the game in a 3-1 loss.
For the Opponent
Brysha Schmidt scored what would be the game-winning goal.
Frisoni made 20 saves in the win.
Analysis
LVC outshot Hood 44-21.
The Blazers went 1-5 on their power play opportunities, while the Flying Dutchmen could not convert on any of their five chances.
LVC had a 35-21 advantage in faceoffs.
Notes
Hood falls to 12-7-2 (8-7-2), while LVC moves to 14-6 (11-5).
Up Next
The Blazers return home for the series finale against Alvernia at Skate Frederick Saturday, February 7 at 7 p.m. Hood currently sits two points behind the Golden Wolves for the final spot in the MAC playoffs.
