RUTLAND, Vt. – Senior goaltender Amanda Hoy (Brockport, N.Y.) turned away 33 shots, including 19 saves in the second period, to lead Castleton to a 3-0 shutout win over Plymouth St. in the consolation round of the Rutland Herald Invitational (RHI) on Saturday afternoon at Spartan Arena.
The Spartans improve to 4-6-1 overall on the season behind Hoy's (3-3-0) third career shutout and first of the 2010-11 campaign. The Panthers fall to 0-12-1.
Freshman forward Stephanie Bardell (Erwinna, Pa.) opened the scoring for Castleton late in the first period at 14:27 with her third goal of the season. With a loose puck stationed around Plymouth State's blueline, Bardell gained possession of the puck and skated in hard towards Ali Ponte's (Richmond Hill, Ontario) left post and snuck the puck through the freshman goaltender's five-hole for a 1-0 lead.
Earlier in the period, Hoy robbed Bri Davis (Framingham, Mass.) of a breakaway goal at 9:27 with a beautiful glove save after the junior forward exited the penalty box and gained possession of a loose puck near center ice.
Midway through the second, the Spartans took advantage of a turnover at center ice pushing the gap to 2-0. Senior forward Amy Costa (Bristol, R.I.) transitioned the puck into offensive zone and fed Jade Werger (Maple Ridge, B.C.) with a tape-to-tape pass in the slot. Werger's initial shot was stopped by Ponte but Laura Szwed (White Lake, Michigan) cleaned up the rebound with a wrister over Ponte's glove for her second goal of the season.
Hoy stood tall in net in the second period making 19 saves total fending off four penalty kill situations including three penalties that were called during a span of 2:28 seconds apart from each other.
In the third, Szwed put the game on ice at 6:27 of the period stuffing home a puck in the crease behind Ponte for a 3-0 advantage. Sophomore forward Nicole Ruman (Riverside, Calif.) assisted on the score.
For Plymouth St., Ponte (0-12-1) made 32 saves in net for the Panthers.
Castleton travels to Potsdam St. on Tuesday, January 11 at 3:30 pm.
