
NWHL leading scorer Haley Skarupa had two goals to lead Connecticut to a 7-5 win over Buffalo Sunday.
BUFFALO, Oct. 23 – Connecticut Whale rookie Haley Skarupa remains red hot. The forward from Boston College scored in her third consecutive National Women’s Hockey League contest with two goals and an assist to lead the Whale to a 7-5 win over the Buffalo Beauts Sunday.
Skarupa, who had a point on seven of Connecticut’s first 10 goals of the season, had two first period goals in less than two minutes as the Whale won their second straight contest. Skarupa is the leading scorer in the league with five goals and four assists for nine points after three games.
Connecticut (2-1) scored four goals in the first 4:32 of the game to take command with two goals from Skarupa and goals from Nicole Connery and rookie Dana Trivigno. The Whale scored three goals in 46 seconds to get the game started.
Connery scored off an assist from Stack with 2:24 gone in the game followed by Skarupa’s fourth goal of the season from Stack and Connery just 19 seconds later. Connecticut made it 3-0 on Trivigno’s goal 25 seconds later. With 4:32 gone in the contest, Skarupa made it 4-0 off an assist from Stack and Connery.
Stack finished with a game-high four points – one goal and three assists.
On Kelley Steadman’s second goal of the game with 7:27 into the third period, Buffalo cut the Whale’s four-goal lead to one, 5-4. But the Whale responded with a goal from Jordan Brickner to again take a two-goal lead. Buffalo again cut the lead to one, 6-5, with 6:04 left on a goal from Connie Buie but the Whale was able to hold off the Beauts.
Connecticut goalie Shenae Lundberg made 23 saves to earn her first victory of the season.
The Whale will resume action on Saturday, Nov. 12 when they travel to Boston to take on the defending NWHL champion Pride at 6:30 p.m. The league will be on a two-week break to allow players to participate in the Four Nations Cup tournament with the United States, Canada, Sweden and Finland on Nov. 1-5 in Finland.
Connecticut’s Skarupa, Stack and Trivigno will be representing the United States in the tournament. There are 12 NWHL players on the U.S. roster.
Connecticut 7, Buffalo 5
At Buffalo
Connecticut (2-1) 5 0 2 — 7
Buffalo (1-3) 1 2 2 — 5
First period
Connecticut 1, Nicole Connery (Kelli Stack), 2:24; Connecticut 2, Haley Skarupa (Stack, Connery), 2:43; Connecticut 3, Dana Trivigno (Ivana Bilic, Cydney Roesler), 3:08; Connecticut 4, Skarupa (Stack, Connery), 4:32; Buffalo 1, Emily Janiga (Lisa Chesson), 15:52; Connecticut 5, Stack (Kelly Babstock, Skarupa), 16:24; Penalties – Devon Skeats (Buffalo), roughing, 10:32; Elena Orlando (Connecticut), hooking, 12:47
Second period
Buffalo 2, Devon Skeats (Megan Bozek), 9:10; Buffalo 3, Kelley Steadman (Shiann Darkangelo, Harrison Browne), 19:33; Penalties – Celeste Brown (Connecticut), interference, 5:26; Kourtney Kunichika (Buffalo), hooking, 16:24
Third period
Buffalo 4, Steadman (Kourtney Kunichika, Chesson), 7:27; Connecticut 6, Jordan Brickner, 12:39; Buffalo 5, Corinne Buie, 13:56; Connecticut 7. Kelly Babstock (Nicole Kosta), 19:51 (empty net); Penalties – Shannon Doyle (Connecticut), body checking, 1:11; Kelli Stack (Connecticut), tripping, 4:28
Goalies: Shenae Lundberg, Connecticut (W, 1-1) 28 shots, 23 saves; Amanda Leveille, Buffalo (L, 0-1) 14 shots, 9 saves; Brianne McLaughlin, Buffalo, 8 shots, 7 saves
Shots: Connecticut 23 (14-4-5), Buffalo 28 (10-9-9); Power play: Connecticut 0-2, Buffalo 0-4
NWHL Standings
W-L | OL | Pts. | GF | GA | |
Boston | 4-0 | 0 | 8 | 17 | 6 |
Connecticut | 2-1 | 0 | 4 | 15 | 12 |
Buffalo | 1-2 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 17 |
New York | 0-3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 15 |
Saturday, Oct. 22
Boston 5, New York 1
Sunday, Oct. 23
Connecticut 7, Buffalo 5
Two-week break for Four Nations Tournament in Finland
Tuesday, Nov. 1
United States vs. Sweden, 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 2
United States vs. Finland, 6:30 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 4
United States vs. Canada, 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 5
Bronze medal game, 2 p.m.
Gold medal game, 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 12
New York at Buffalo
Connecticut at Boston, 6:30 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 13
New York at Buffalo
Since 2009, the Collinsville Press has been providing award-winning coverage of sports and news in the Farmington Valley and across Connecticut.


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