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Hoyas Win Their First Commodore's Cup!

02/27/2023, 10:00am EST
By Stan Lechner

Georgetown Defeats Reigning Champions NC State in Final, 5-2

During the weekend of February 17-19, 2023, the Georgetown Hoya Hockey teams travelled to Winston-Salem, NC to compete in the end-of-season Championship Tournament in the ACC Hockey League.  The Hoya women’s hockey team, in only its second year of existence, won the tournament with impressive victories over the University of Virginia in the semi-final and defending champion North Carolina State University in the final.  It was a tremendous achievement for the team, which never trailed in any of the games and secured decisive and convincing victories.  

Semi-final.  Georgetown 3, University of Virginia 2.   On Saturday, February 18, the Hoyas faced-off against the Cavaliers of the University of Virginia.  The UVA squad was a formidable opponent that featured ACCHL W2 Player of the Year, Olivia Sliwa.  But the Cavaliers and their Player of the Year were no match for the Hoyas, which featured a strong overall team and the ACCHL Forward of the Year, Aynsley Kaufman.    

Georgetown wasted no time setting the tone by jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first period.  Aynsley Kaufman (Senior, Long Hill, NJ) broke the ice at the 13:35 mark by intercepting a pass in the neutral zone, skating into the slot, and scoring on a perfect wrist shot to give the Hoyas a 1-0 lead.  Merely three minutes later, Aynsley skated around and through the UVA defense, and scored upper shelf from the lower right circle to give the Hoyas a 2-0 lead.  With 2:25 remaining in the first period, Sofia Kuusisto (Senior, Port Washington, NY) scored what would become the game winner by delivering a beautiful wrist shot over the goalie’s shoulder and into the back of the net.  Not only were the Hoyas leading 3-0 going into the first intermission, but they dominated play and outshot the Cavaliers 35 to 13. 

During the second period, the Hoyas stepped off the gas and played defensively to preserve their lead.  This became precarious as UVA scored twice late in the second period to cut the Hoyas lead to 3-2.  In the third period, however, the Hoyas skated hard in all three zones and limited UVA’s grade-A scoring chances.  When the Cavaliers were able to get a shot on net, or a deflection, Hoya goaltender Amelia Scott (Freshman, San Francisco, CA) was stellar and blocked everything thrown her way.  When the final horn sounded, Amelia ended up saving 28 shots on goal to preserve this critical victory to give the Hoyas a shot at the league championship.      

Championship Game.  Georgetown 5, North Carolina State University 2.   On Sunday morning, February 19, the Hoyas faced-off against the Icepack of NC State University.  NC State, the defending league champion, had defeated Virginia Tech in their semi-final game and were confident heading into the championship game against the Hoyas, whom they had defeated in the championship game last year.  The Icepack had a full squad of 20 players and featured the ACCHL goalie of the year, Maddie Martin. But the NC State goalie of the year was no match for the Hoyas.  Just like in the semi-final game against UVA, the Hoyas started out strong.  In the first 10 minutes of the first period, the Hoyas controlled the action and outshot NC State 13 to 0.    Once again, it was Aynsley Kaufman of the Hoyas who broke the ice and put the Hoyas in the lead.  At the 12:26 mark in the first period, Aynsley fired a hard wrist shot from the point that the NC State goalie could not handle.  Aynsley’s goal was assisted by Sofia Kuusisto.  With 1:20 remaining in the first period, Aynsley struck again, this time on a beautiful wraparound goal that left the NC State netminder sprawling.  Aynsley’s second goal was assisted by Lizzie Ingrassia (Sophomore, Long Island, NY).  With merely 12.2 seconds remaining in the first period, Addison Basile (Freshman, Middletown, NJ) scored what would become the game-winner on a nice wrist shot from the slot.  This gave the Hoyas a commanding 3-0 lead heading into the first intermission. 

The second period did not feature scoring by either team, but the Hoyas were not passive.  At the end of the second period, the Hoyas were outshooting the Wolfpack 35 to 13.  For the first half of the third period, the Hoyas continued to dominate.  At the 5:45 mark, Aynsley Kaufman silenced the NC State crowd by putting on a sensational display of skating and skill.  While the Hoyas were shorthanded, Aynsley gained control of the puck in the neutral zone, skated completely around the NC State defense and goalie twice, and then on her third loop in the offensive zone shocked the NC State netminder by firing a quick shot over her pads and into the back of the net.  This was the third goal of the game for Aynsley, a hat trick, and gave the Hoyas a commanding 4-0 lead.  At the midpoint of the final period, the Hoyas were outshooting the Icepack 45 to 14 and leading 4-0.   

But just when it seemed like the Hoyas were headed for a shutout, the Wolfpack rallied.  In the span of two minutes, with 7:26 and 6:10 remaining in the game, NC State scored twice, once on a power play, to cut the Hoyas’ lead to 4-2.  The “most dangerous lead in hockey” awakened the crowd and made the game very tense going down the stretch.  To make matters worse, with 4:41 remaining, the Hoyas were called for a minor penalty and the surging Icepack went on a power play.  With strong team defense and excellent goaltending by Amelia Scott, the Hoyas weathered the storm and successfully killed the penalty.  Finally, with 1:12 remaining in the game, Georgetown’s Aynsley Kaufman capped off an incredible performance by scoring her fourth goal, assisted by Sofia Kuusisto and Sarah Zhou.   Aynsley Kaufman was named Tournament MVP.

When the final buzzer sounded, the Hoyas celebrated and received the Commodore's Cup as ACC Hockey League Champions for 2023.    

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