BEVERLY, Mass. – The first-seeded Endicott women's ice hockey team fell to No. 2 seed Morrisville State by a 3-1 score on Sunday afternoon in the Colonial Hockey Conference (CHC) Tournament championship game at Raymond J. Bourque Arena.
Morrisville State's Vanessa Klimpke (Winnipeg, Manitoba) was named the CHC Tournament Most Valuable Player as the freshman forward scored three goals and dished one assist in two postseason games for the Mustangs. Klimpke's tournament efforts were highlighted by her game-winning goal versus SUNY Canton in the semifinals, and also her unassisted tally against Endicott in today's matchup that opened up the scoring in the contest at 5:05 of the second.
The Mustangs then went on to receive goals from Jessica Ujcik (Munich, Germany) and Maddison Devlin (Campbell River, British Columbia) later in the period at 11:35 and 12:51, respectively, that all but clinched Morrisville State's first-ever CHC Tournament crown in program history.
Endicott did play a hard-fought 27:09 of action the rest of the way, which resulted in a goal from Meredith Vlachos (East Bridgewater, Mass.) at 10:51 of the third, but Morrisville State goaltender Renee Schmaltz (Beaumont, Alberta) held true from that point on for the win.
Schmaltz ended the contest with 30 saves and improved to 20-6-1 on the season, while Endicott netminder Vendela Jonsson (Linkoping, Sweden) had 26 saves in the loss (15-3-1).
CHC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
F – Vanessa Klimpke (MVP), Morrisville State
F – Jillian Gibbs, Endicott
F – Jessica Ujcik, Morrisville State
D – Kaitlyn Schlake, Morrisville State
D – Ellen Carter, Endicott
G – Renee Schmaltz, Morrisville State
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Despite today's loss, Endicott still leads the all-time series over Morrisville State (3-2-1).
- Teneal Perry (Halifax, Nova Scotia) picked up her seventh assist of the season on Vlachos' tally.
- Maggie Layo (Sandwich, Mass.) won a team-high nine face-offs.
FOR THE FOES
- Klimpke was the primary assist on Ujcik's game-winner at 11:35 of the second, while Renee Stevenson (Winnipeg, Manitoba) had the secondary helper.
- Kaitlyn Schlake (Nampa, Idaho) and Stephanie Strymecki (Kelowna, British Columbia) notched assists on Devlin's goal at 12:51 of the second.
- Strymecki won a game-high 12 face-offs, while Klimpke blocked a game-high four shots.
- The Mustangs have won three in a row after securing today's CHC Tournament title, and are also 9-3-0 on the road this season.
WHAT'S NEXT
No. 8/10 nationally ranked Endicott (22-4-1) and Morrisville State (20-6-1) will now await an at-large bid into the NCAA Division III women's ice hockey tournament. The selection show will air on www.NCAA.com on Monday, March 6 at 10 AM. For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.