MIDDLETOWN, R.I. (February 3, 2024) – The Western New England women's ice hockey team looked to defenseman Kelly Yorkey to put the icing on the game, as the senior would net the final two goals in Western New England's 4-1 win on Saturday night over Salve Regina University.

Records:

• Western New England: 13-6-2, 9-5-1 CCC
• Salve Regina University: 10-9-3, 7-7-1 CCC

How it Happened:

The Golden Bears would waste very little time to get on the board, scoring just 46 seconds in the game. Alexa Paoli would rim the puck hard around the boards, where Salve Regina University goalkeeper Sydney Baxter would misplay the puck behind the net, leading to scramble mode for the Seahawks, while Maddie Pope was able to jam the puck into the net on the backhand to lift Western New England to a quick 1-0 lead. Salve Regina would get on the offensive attack after that, seeing Ashtyn Bringardner come away with a shot on goal that was turned away by WNE's Rieley Jessie-Gerelli. Salve would get on the board with just under 13 minutes left to play in the first period when a powerplay goal from Emly Wroblewski evened the score at one. Jessie-Gerelli would come up with timely saves down the stretch of the first period to keep Salve Regina off the scoreboard while Western New England came away with six first period shots. Salve would record ten total shots in the opening frame.

The Golden Bears would see Salve Regina open the second period with the first two shots, though both were nudged aside. The Golden Bears would get a powerplay at the 1:39 mark of the second and would take full advantage of the scoring chance. Ziya Damas would send a hard pass from the red line back to her defensive teammates at the blue line, where Maddy Tucker would take the pass and send it over to defense partner Brie Dube. Dube would step to the middle of the ice and send a blistering wrister shot past the Salve Regina goalkeeper and into the back of the net to give Western New England a 2-1 lead. Dube picks up her first goal of the season. Salve Regina would come away with two shots on a pwerplay of their own, as just 15 seconds after the WNE goal, the Golden Bears would be whistled for a penalty, though Salve would not come away with a goal. Western New England came away with ten second-period shots, with one finding the back of the net, while Salve Regina took 12 shots on frame, all saved by Jessie-Gerelli.

In the third, both teams would come around with some early offense, though both goalkeepers would stand tall, keeping the score locked at 2-1. Western New England would come around and score their third goal of the game when Kelly Yorkey registered a point shot that snuck through the Seahawks and found its way into the back of the net to extend WNE's lead to 3-1. Alyssa Murphy and Maddie Pope recorded assists on the goal from Yorkey. Sakve Regina scrambled to find the game-tying goals through the midway point of the third period, but was not able to do so. Kelly Yorkey grabbed her second goal of the night on an empty netter to seal the win for the Golden Bears, as Western New England would knock off the hosting Seahawks by a final score of 4-1.

Inside the Lines:

• Kelly Yorkey's two third-period goals lifted the Golden Bears to a 4-1 win over Salve Regina.
• WNE went 2/5 on the powerplay in the win, while Salve Regina capitalized on 1/6 chances, getting two chances in each period.
• Rieley Jessie-Gerelli came away with 29 saves in the win, allowing just one goal.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• WNE plays their final non-conference game of the season on Tuesday, February 6, at 7:00 p.m., taking on Amherst College at 7:00 p.m.