Pope Nets Two as Women's Ice Hockey Wins Their Season Opener at Anna Maria

Paxton, Mass. (October 28, 2022) - The Golden Bears returned to the ice for their first game of the 2022-2023 season. They traveled out to Paxton, MA, to start the season against Anna Maria College like they did last year. This was Anna Maria's first game of the season as well.

Records:

• Western New England: 1-0-0 (0-0-0)
• Anna Maria College: 0-1-0 (0-0-0)

How it Happened:

The season started with Luciana Robertelli in the net for the Golden Bears and Julia Smith in the net for Anna Maria. The first shot of the game and young season happened just over two minutes into the game when Gianna Fortunato sent a shot that Smith saved. WNE's Maddie Pope then sent another shot three and a half minutes into the game that was blocked before getting to net. A minute later, Sydney Conte sent another shot toward net, but Riley Cote blocked it before getting to the net. That was followed up seconds later by Samantha Rodriguez sending a shot at net, but Robertelli made the save. Western New England then answered with three straight shots. Smith saved two, and the third sailed off target of the net. There was a faceoff, but then three more shots from the Golden Bears. Kelly Yorkey had two of the shots. Smith saved one, and another was blocked before getting to the net. Conte then had a shot saved with 7:35 left in the first period. And with 6:24 left in the first period, the Golden Bears went on the power play. The power play saw five shots taken by WNE. Four made it on net, and all of them were saved by Smith. The power play ended without a goal, and Anna Maria went on the attack. Robertelli saved a shot by Orla O'Driscoll, and the final action of the first period was a shot by Brie Dube that Smith made a save on to end the period with both teams stuck at zero.

The second period started with an early shot by Maggie Holt that Smith saved. Erin McGlynn followed it up for the Golden Bears with another shot that Smith was able to save. After a shot wide by Yorkey, the next two shots would come from Anna Maria, and Robertelli saved both. WNE answered those two shots with four shots of their own. Pope, Fortunato, and Holt were all saved by Smith. Holt had the fourth shot, but it was sent wide of the net. With 8:31 left in the first period, Anna Maria showed their teeth. They made a move down the ice, and Grace Dodge found Abigail Vigliotte, who, in turn, found Jordyn Bleaney. Bleaney sent the puck past Robertelli and into the net behind Robertelli. The score was now 1-0, with Anna Maria leading. However, Anna Maria did not take the pressure off as they quickly got another shot on Robertelli, but Robertelli made the save. Holt then had the next shot. However, it missed wide of the net. Anna Maria's Tessa Henry then tested Robertelli, but Robertelli was equal to the task. WNE answered that with five shots on net. However, Smith stayed strong and made all five saves. Anna Maria then got two shots off before WNE turned the tables again and went back to shooting on Anna Maria's net. The constant pressure finally paid off. Zoe Galanoudis finally cracked the code and sent the puck past Smith and into the back of the net. That was the first goal of the game and the season for WNE. The score was 1-1, with less than a minute left to play in the second period. The second period ended with Anna Maria putting a shot on Robertelli, who made the save. Then, WNE sent three shots at Smith as the period's final seconds ticked away. After two periods of play, the score showed 1-1 on the scoreboard.

After two tightly contested periods, the game was coming down to the final period the teams knotted at one goal a piece. Anna Maria came out firing with two shots on Robertelli in the first two minutes. Robertelli made the saves relatively easily. WNE's Lizzy Peck sent the first shot on net for the Golden Bears in the third period. However, Smith was there for the save. Anna Maria answered that minutes later by getting two shots oof. Robertelli saved one, and the other was blocked before getting to the net. In the seventh minute of play in the third period, WNE struck again. The goal came from Maddie Pope, who had tested Smith earlier in the game, but finally got the puck past the goalie to give WNE their first lead of the year. The score was now 2-1. Anna Maria tried to turn up the intensity. Three shots were attempted, with the first being blocked and the next two going wide of the WNE net. WNE answered those shots with four of their own. All of which were saved by Smith. Anna Maria then got a shot off, but Robertelli made the save. That was followed up by another shot from Anna Maria's Hannah Tobey. Robertelli denied Tobey of the equalizer. The two teams went back and forth with shots. WNE kept blocking the Anna Maria shots, and Julia Smith kept saving the shots from WNE. WNE then went on the power play with 4:19 left in the game. Four shots were taken during the power play, with two being saved by Smith. After WNE's power play ended, Anna Maria went to the power play. Anna Maria had three shots during the power play, and WNE got a short-handed shot off, but it was blocked before getting to Smith. Anna Maria pulled their goalie with a minute left in the game. Maddie Pope made them pay with eight seconds left in the game as Pope netted the game's third goal to solidify WNE's first win of the year. 3-1. 

The game ended with WNE having 36 shots and Anna Maria having 15. Julia Smith had 33 saves for Anna Maria, and Luciana Robertelli had 14 saves. Maddie Pope had two goals during the game, and Zoe Galanoudis had one. The Golden Bears picked up their first win of the season by a score of three to one.

Inside the Lines:

• The WNE Golden Bears opened up their 2022-2023 campaign against Anna Maria College.
• The game's first goal came from Anna Maria's Jordyn Bleaney with 8:31 left in the second period.
• WNE tied up the game in the final minute of the second period. Zoe Galanoudis scored to put the score at 1-1.
• Maddie Pope put WNE ahead 6:19 into the third period. The score was now 2-1.
• Pope then solidified the win with an empty-net goal eight seconds before the final buzzer sounded.
• WNE won their season opener 3-1. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• WNE returns home for their home opener against Anna Maria on Saturday, October 29, at 5:00 pm.
• Anna Maria hits the road to play the back end of a home-and-home matchup with WNE. They play at 5:00 pm on Saturday, October 29.