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Beauts Notebook: Depth and discipline paying dividends

Tidbits, stats and more from the post-game media scrum.

Saturday, the Beauts raised their Isobel Cup banner and added one to the win column all in the same night, defeating the Boston Pride, 5-3.

The Game

  • Four Beauts put up goals, including Taylor Accursi, whose fourth and fifth tallies of the season put her first in the league currently. Maddie Elia and Kaylyn Schroka also scored their first professional goals, while Amanda Leveille got the win with 29 saves. /
  • Saturday’s affair was much more disciplined for the Beauts across the board — just two minor penalties called on Buffalo, compared to the 46 PIM combined last weekend in Rochester. Although they can be a physical team, it’s obvious comparing the two games that they excel when they stay out of the box, despite a strong penalty kill.
  • The second period was by far the Beauts’ strongest. They outshot Boston 20-9 and scored the bulk of their goals in that frame. However, in the third period, they were outshot and outplayed, as the Pride took the shot advantage 13-9 and outscored them 3-1. If not for some lucky misses (including a ping off the post late in the third) and a few great saves from Amanda Leveille, it could have been a very different game./
  • Corinne Buie wrapped up the night with two points (1 G, 1 A) and eight shots, working well with Accursi throughout the game after Accursi was moved up from a line with Elia and Hayley Scamurra.
  • One Beaut who surprisingly hasn’t cracked the goose egg yet? Rebecca Vint, who has one assist this season (on Accursi’s first goal of the game Saturday). Not for lack of trying -- she had five shots on goal and was a strong presence in front of the net for much of the night. Whenever it comes, it’ll be beautiful to witness, for sure. (See what I did there?)/

Coach Quotes

  • Co-head coach Ric Seiling was the first to speak post-game, and he was cautiously pleased with the night’s results: /

“We’re still a team that’s learning. Learning each other, trying to get the chemistry right… every game is a learning experience. We came out with the win, but what can we take away?”

  • Seiling also talked about the depth of talent across the roster, saying he and co-coach Craig Muni “bang [their] heads against the wall” trying to decide lineups for each upcoming week, but that sounds to me like a good problem to have.
  • Jess Jones and Sarah Casorso sat out Saturday’s game after each received a game misconduct during the melee in Rochester, but will rejoin the team (presumably) at home this coming Saturday, again facing the Riveters. Seiling joked their absence made it a bit easier to decide the starting roster, but emphasized he enjoys the makeup and quality of the team Buffalo is icing this year so far./

From The Players

  • Accursi, on her quick ascent in the wake of snipers like Kelley Steadman and Shiann Darkangelo leaving the team:/

“Honestly, it feels great to be able to fill a role that’s really special on the team… being able to fill that void... “Having my teammates there to support me definitely allowed me to fill that role.”

  • Maddie Elia on her first NWHL goal:/

“It was awesome. Especially because we won, that makes it a lot better.”

She praised linemate Kourtney Kunichika for the tremendous pass on the play as well. Kunichika also had the primary assist on Accursi’s second goal and seems to be settling in well as a playmaker.

  • After the handshake, Kelsey Neumann and Leveille had an interesting interaction at center ice. /

When asked, this is what Leveille had to say:

“So, we wanna make this super awesome handshake that’ll go viral, but we kind of forgot our handshake when we got out onto the middle of the ice. So stay tuned for next week -- it’s gonna be waaaay better.”

Buffalo’s next game is Saturday at 7:30 p.m. against the Metro Riveters, at HarborCenter.

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