Despite falling to Rochester Polytechnic Instituteon Friday during their Austim Awareness game, the Colgate women’s ice hockey tallied its third ECAC win at home last Saturday afternoon in a 3-1 decision against Union College.

First-year Ashlynne Rando had a sensational game, leading Colgate to victory with 32 saves on the afternoon. The Raiders played a balanced offensive game, notching one goal each period of the match. The Raiders got going late in the first period with a power play goal by junior Taylor Volpe. In the second frame, sophomore Taylor Craig grabbed her third goal of the 2012-2013 season at the 4:43 mark. Finally, first-year Nicole Gass put it away for the Raiders, sliding in her second career goal for Colgate on a snapshot with five minutes left to play.

While Colgate managed to score on two of its six man-up opportunities, the Raiders domination extended well past the offensive end. Colgate put forth an indomitable defensive effort, stopping four power plays by Union.

Union was called for tripping at 17:35 in the first frame, and Colgate was able to capitalize on the resulting power play. Junior Jocelyn Simpson and sophomore Katie Case were moving the puck around Union’s zone when Simpson tried to fire one in for the Raiders; Volpe found the puck on the redirection and found the back of the net for the first score of the game,

putting Colgate up 1-0.

Four and a half minutes into the second period, junior Rachel Walsh found a break on the left wing and attempted a shot for the Raiders. Union’s Lundberg was able to stop the initial shot, but  Craig managed to score of the rebound, notching the Raiders second goal of the match.

Union tried to rally early in the final period with both first-year Jessica Kaminisky and 

senior Emma Rambo firing shots at the Colgate net. Rando was able to come up with two huge saves on both attempts, marking two of the 11 stops Rando scraped up in the third frame.

Union scored their only goal of the game at the 19:09 mark in the final frame, when  first-year Courtney Turner managed to sneak one past Rando in a scramble near the net, a goal marking Tuner’s fifth score of the season. Union’s sophomore goalie Shenae Lundberg managed to stop 25 of Colgate’s shots during the matchup, with 10 of the those saves coming in the second period.

With less than three minutes to go in the game, Colgate grabbed its third and final score of the match. Junior Megan Wickens and Gass were passing the puck back and forth, attempting to make good on a power play opportunity. Gass saw an opening for a shot and managed to slide the puck through traffic and into the back of the net.

Union managed to score on a scramble in front of the net in the closing minutes of the game, the two-goal lead kept the Raiders ahead and ultimately gave Colgate their third ECAC win of the season.

The Raiders will face Princeton and Quinnipiac this weekend as the Colgate women’s ice hockey team hits the road in two more ECAC match-ups. The Raiders meet the tigers of Princeton at 7 p.m. on Friday evening and then see the Quinnipiac Bobcats beginning at 4 p.m.

on Saturday.

Contact Kelly Reid at

[email protected].