Women’s Hockey Drop MASCAC Match to Worcester

WORCESTER, Mass. – The MCLA Women's Ice Hockey team returned to the ice this evening, heading east to the Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Center for a MASCAC clash with the Worcester State University Lancers. Kaitlyn O'Brien stopped 44 shots and Maggie Danchak notched her first goal of the season but the Lancers used a 48-9 advantage in shots to take the game 4-1.

THE BASICS:

• Date: Friday, January 23, 2026
• Score: MCLA 1, Worcester 4
• Records: MCLA Trailblazers 1-10-1 (MASCAC 0-6-0) | Worcester State University Lancers 8-8-0 (MASCAC 5-1-0)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Worcester set the tone early in the game, outshooting the Trailblazers 11-1 in the first period, but only came away with a single goal. Princess Delano (11:29 of 1^st period, assisted by Melanson & Johns) was credited with the marker while the assists went to Caroline Melanson and Emily Johns.
• Junior forward Maggie Danchak (Chalfont, PA / Philadelphia Little Flyers) (9:08 of 2^nd period, Ekblad & Bissaillion) pulled MCLA back to even with the home team. First-year forward Brooklyn Ekblad (Williston, ND / Williston High School) recovered a wide shot from junior forward Katie Pica (Woburn, MA / Woburn High School) that went into the right corner. Ekblad passed out to first-year defenseman Emily Hopp (Gallatin, TN / Salem State University) at the point. Hopp sent it back to Ekblad along the boards, who sent it out to junior defenseman Summer Bissaillion (Blind River, ON / Sudbury Wolves) between the faceoff circles for a wrist shot that was lifted by a Lancer defenders stick where Danchak knocked it further into the air, and dropped just over the goalie's shoulder into the net before a defender could stop it. The goal was the first of the season for Danchak and the helpers were the second and fifth respectively, for Ekblad and Bissaillion.
• Worcester would go back in front with a pair of goals to close out the second period. The first was scored by Johns (PP, 14:54, Gaspar & Ryan) on the power play with assists credited to Lea Gaspar and Cailey Ryan. The second goal came in the closing seconds of the frame from Leyla Tiernan (19:46, Franta & Olivia Fehl) with helpers from Madelyn Franta and Olivia Fehl.
• The third period played out much like the first with the Lancers again holding the Trailblazers to one shot while firing off 19 of their own. That 18-shot edge though, only resulted in one goal from AJ Villandry (18:07 of 3^rd period, Gaspar) as Gaspar recorded her second assist of the night.
• Worcester's Kelsey Czerniawski stopped eight of the nine shots she faced to even her season record at 6-6-0 while MCLA's dropped to 1-6-1 despite recording 44 saves. It was the sixth 40+ save showing of her season.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Shots: MCLA 9, Worcester 48
• Saves: MCLA 44, Worcester 8
• Faceoffs Won: MCLA 32, Worcester 22
• Penalty/Minutes: MCLA 3/6:00, Worcester 2/4:00
• Power Plays: MCLA 0 for 2, Worcester 1 for 3

UP NEXT:

On Saturday, MCLA will be back in action when it hosts Worcester State at the Peter W. Foote Vietnam Veterans Memorial Rink for a MASCAC rematch with the Lancers. The puck will drop at 5:30 p.m.

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