Lake Placid, NY – In a tightly contested game for all 60 minutes, Riley Andzel scored the game-winner on a breakaway with 17 minutes left in the third period to push the SUNY Canton women's hockey team over the Utica Pioneers 3-2 at Herb Brooks Arena Sunday.   
 
THE BASICS

• Result: SUNY Canton 3, Utica 2
• Location:  Herb Brooks Arena – Lake Placid, NY 
• Records: SUNY Canton (8-4-1) | Utica (3-10-1)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Fairly quickly, the Roos drew a minor penalty on the Pioneers. The Roos failed to get a shot on net early, but with just under 20 seconds left in the power play, Lucy Beal took an open shot near the left face off circle. The shot was not particularly hard, but a couple bodies in front of Alex Venning blocked the goaltender's vision and the puck beat her as the Roos scored the opening goal with 14:50 remaining in the first period.
• The next 10 minutes, the ice was quite dirty on the Utica end and fairly clean around Alyssa Townsley. The Roos were dominating possession, outshooting the Pioneers 8-1 at one point, and had plenty of high-danger chance at the net that either went just wide or were fended off by Venning.
• Utica had some decent zone time in the final few minutes and drew a penalty on SUNY Canton with 37 seconds left but did not find the twine in the period.
• The opening 20 minutes ended with the Roos still ahead 1-0 enjoying a 10-4 shots on goal advantage.
• The beginning of the second period did not have much pace with plenty of whistles. The Roos got called for two penalties early, and while they killed off the first one, the Pioneers scored 14 seconds into their second 5v4 off of a rebounded shot to knot the contest up at 1.
• With 6:30 remaining in the second period, Utica had a zone clear, but the Roos came up with some speed on the other end. Townsley fed Kyra O'Keefe, who sent it up to Jane Pancoe down on the other end. Pancoe fired a shot down near the goal line, and O'Keefe was right there to stuff it in for the 2-1 SUNY Canton advantage.
• The Roos nearly scored again with five seconds left in the period, but through 40 minutes held a 2-1 lead. The Roos poured on the shots after Utica's goal and ended the period leading 24-10 in shots on target.
• SUNY Canton had an abbreviated power play to begin the third, but found themselves pinned back in their zone after this, and a Utica shot out near the point was tipped in for the game-tying goal only a couple minutes in.
• Not one minute later, the Pioneers mishandled a puck in the neutral zone and Riley Andzel swiped it to get out all alone out towards Venning. Andzel scored low blocker side, and the Roos claimed the lead back again on the breakaway goal.
• SUNY Canton killed off another penalty and kept the puck in the Utica zone whenever they could. The Pioneers pulled Venning with around 45 seconds left but failed to score as the Roos skated to the 3-2 victory, matching their win total from last season.

 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Andzel had three points on the weekend and two in the back end of the doubleheader with her game-winning goal and a helper on O'Keefe's tally. Alyssa Townsley registered a secondary assist for her first career point while Anna Pavlasova had one assist in each of the two games.
• Kaci Ryder for Utica had a goal after scoring last night and Samantha Dobrzynski had the other Pioneers goal after earning an assist in the game yesterday.  
• 11 penalties were called in the game (two offsetting) and each team converted once with SUNY Canton having four cracks at it and Utica five. Shots on goal were 30-20 in favor of the Roos.
• Both netminders were .900 in save percentage on the day with Townsley sending aside 18 of 20 and Venning going 27-for-30.

 
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Roos will have a home-and-home series against St. John Fisher towards the end of the next week before returning to SUNYAC play. SUNY Canton will host the Cardinals at 5 p.m. on Thursday, January 15, then play in Rochester on Saturday.
   

Discover SUNY Canton, where innovation meets opportunity. The college's career-focused educational programs emphasize hands-on and applied learning opportunities in digital design, engineering technology, health, information technology, management, public service, and veterinary technology. Faculty members bring real-world experience and exceptional academic expertise to the classroom. As a leader in online education, SUNY Canton offers unmatched flexibility with hundreds of courses and 23 comprehensive degree programs offered completely online. The SUNY Canton Kangaroos compete at the NCAA Division III level and are members of the SUNYAC. In addition to its 15 traditional teams, SUNY Canton offers coed varsity esports and cheerleading.