BUFFALO — Natasha Steinle (Morrison, CO/COHA) and Lila Toczek (Pendleton, NY/Starpoint) each scored first period goals as Buffalo State was able to hold off William Smith, 2-1 in an ECAC West contest this afternoon at the Buffalo State Ice Arena.
Buffalo State outshot William Smith, 47-18 as the Bengals controlled play for the majority of the afternoon. Steinle netted her sixth goal in her last six games after going scoreless in her first eight games as a Bengal. Just a day after scoring her first colligate goal against the Herons, Toczek scored her second in two nights after going goal-less in her first 13 games with Buffalo State. Missy Mallon (Amherst, NY/Amherst), Jessica Carter (Scottsdale, AZ/Brightmont Academy), and Toczek all registered an assist.
Steinle opened the scoring just 2:38 into the first period. Toczek entered the zone on a 2-on-1 and sent the puck into the corner. She chased it down, circled the net and threw it off the boards to herself again behind the net. After getting into a battle in the boards, Steinle took the puck off Toczek’s stick, stepped out in front, and ripped a shot into the top corner of the net from the faceoff circle to make it 1-0, Buffalo State. The Bengals struck again 16 minutes later as Carter won a battle behind the net, pushing it out to Mallon in front. Mallon then flipped it across to Toczek, who was crashing the net, and she buried it to make it 2-0, Buffalo State. The two teams skated to a scoreless second, with the Bengals outshooting the Herons 14-5 in the period.
William Smith’s Jordan Roetzer scored halfway through the third period on the power play to half the Bengal lead to 2-1. Buffalo State stood strong and withstood the Herons final attack in the last couple minutes of the third to pick up the 2-1 conference victory. With the win, the Bengals completed the season-sweep over the Herons after last night’s 5-2 victory. Buffalo State is now 5-1 against William Smith all-time. Justine Silva (Baldwin Park, CA/Arroyo) made 17 saves to pick up her ninth win of the season.
Buffalo State heads to Cortland to take on the Red Dragons (1-12-0, 0-8-0) on Friday and Saturday in an ECAC West season-series at Alumni Arena. Both games are set to face off at 2 p.m.
from BuffaloStateAthletics.com via IFTTT
All WNY is made possible thanks to coffee and sleep deprivation.
We appreciate your readership. We like money, too.
