WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (December 6, 2025) – The Western New England women's ice hockey team recorded five goals, including three in the opening 20 minutes of play, enough to take down the Bison of Nichols College for the second straight night, this time taking a 5-1 Conference of New England win.
Records:
- Western New England: 7-4, 5-3 CNE
- Nichols College: 2-8, 0-8 CNE
How It Happened:
First Period:
- A slow start for the Western New England offense saw the Bison open with the first stretch of offensive momentum two minutes into the period, forcing early saves by Rachael Irving. Nichols has the better of the first six minutes of play before a penalty of the Bison ruined the chances for the visitors, flipping all momentum to Western New England. The power play generated the first goal of the game for the Golden Bears when Lilly Ainley found the back of the net for the second time this season on assists from Jenna Lynch and Michaela Birmingham, giving WNE a 1-0 lead at the 8:04 mark of the period.
- Sniffing for another tally, the Golden Bears continued to test the Bison defense and goalkeeper, Ivy Grant. Grant came up with multiple big saves in the period, but could not keep Western New England off the scoreboard at the 13:14 mark when Katie Collins took a loose puck and went five-hole of Grant, scoring an unassisted tally, giving WNE a 2-0 lead.
- Down the final three minutes of the period, the Golden Bears came up with chances and beat the buzzer in the final second of the opening period when Mabel Gerard scored on an assist from Jenna Lynch, who passed the puck right in front for a chance from Gerard, who was able to score with 0.2 seconds remaining in the period, giving the Golden Bears a 3-0 lead at the end of the first period.
- Western New England took 22 shots on goal overall in the period, while the opening momentum of the Bison to start the period produced six shots on goal overall.
Second Period:
- The Bison switched its goalkeeper to begin play in the second period as Taylor Daley was between the pipes. WNE had an early power play chance in the first two minutes of the period, which produced five shots, a pair on goal, but resulted in no more goals added to their total. Nichols had their first power play chance at the 7:14 mark of the period, a power play that produced no shots on goal but four total shots, three blocks from the WNE defense, keeping the Bison without a tally.
- Just 44 seconds after a penalty kill, Western New England responded with their fourth goal of the night when Zoe Galanoudis put home a rebound chance on a shot from Mischa Palmitesso, giving Galanoudis her first goal of the season, putting the Golden Bears ahead 4-0. Kaylin O'Connor earned the secondary assist on the goal.
- Western New England controlled much of the play following the goal, taking 19 total shots in the period, throwing nine on goal in total. Nichols had just three shots on goal in the period, seeing WNE take a 4-0 lead after 40 minutes of action.
Third Period:
- A fast-moving third period saw Nichols and Western New England come away with shots on goal, but no additional goals in the early goings. Nichols' second power play of the night resulted in their first goal of the weekend when Ema Jaskova netted her third goal of the season to break WNE's goal streak, getting back within three, 4-1.
- Five minutes after the Nichols goal, WNE responded with a goal of their own when Mikayla Mrzywka picked up her third goal of the weekend and first of the night on an assist from Kaylin O'Connor, scoring her fourth goal of the season, which gave the Golden Bears a 5-1 lead. The lead held for Western New England, who took down the Bison for the second straight night.
Inside the Lines:
Coach's Corner:
Head Coach
Katie Zimmerman was asked three questions after Saturday's win. First, Zimmerman was asked what she believes changed from the team that led to this weekend's performances after four tough games in a row. "We had a good return from Thanksgiving break, and were very deliberate in the time we used to prepare for our games this weekend." Second, Zimmerman was asked what she liked from
Rachael Irving's and the defense's performances. "The entire team prepared well throughout the week and had a great level of buy-in and execution when it came to the game plan." Third, Zimmerman was asked how these two wins before break can set the stage for the second semester. "We have to make sure that when we return from break, we're ready to jump right back into the grind of the season."
Up Next on the Schedule:
- WNE returns following the holiday break with a non-conference game at Amherst College on Thursday, January 8 at 7:00 PM.
