History In Newark

The title of this article might be a little misleading as you might be thinking of the Newark found in New Jersey. This article has nothing to do with the NHL's New Jersey Devils who play in that city, but, instead, it has everything to do with the University of Delaware Blue Hens who play in Newark, Delaware. Tonight marked the first game for the women's hockey program in NCAA history as Delaware welcomed the Long Island University Sharks to Newark where a number of firsts happened. Of course, everyone wanted a first win in Delaware's first game, but there were other firsts to accomplish before that could happen. Let's check it out!

We'll stary in the goal crease where Mattie Robitzer was given the opportunity to backstop the Blue Hens to a historic first win. The 21 year-old Pennsylvania native transferred to Delaware from Northeastern University where she had played four games, going 1-1-0 in those appearances. She was a standout with the Philadelphia Junior Flyers U19 women's program in 2022-23 before committing to Northeastern, but she'll guard the net for the Blue Hens this season!

Robitzer's clean sheet would last through the opening period as she made eight saves to keep the score at 0-0. The shot total of 8-5 in favour of Long Island University doesn't tell the full story, though, because LIU carried the play in the first period. Delaware was awarded three power-plays in the opening frame where they recorded four shots. In the remaining 14 minutes, they generated just one shot at five-on-five. That effort would have to improve if they were to win their first game. Let's move onto the second period!

LIU would get their first power-play just 2:01 into the middle frame as Ottawa native Francesca Barresi was called for bodychecking as Delaware's first-ever NCAA penalty. While no one will be celebrating that piece of history, it was made worse when LIU's Sam Mathe scored on the power-play at 3:37 of the second period as Delaware surrendered their first-ever NCAA goal. Again, no one will celebrate that historical moment on the Delaware side, but it happened.

The hole would get a little deeper for the Blue Hens when LIU's Lauren Karl scored at 11:56 as the Sharks went up 2-0. Again, LIU carried the play in the second period while being powered by a pair of power-plays as they outshot Delaware 16-7 in the period. Robitzer stopped 14 shots, but that two-goal deficit would need to be erased in the third period if Delaware was to celebrate a first win.

The effort from Delaware was certainly there in the third period as they skated hard, drew four penalties, and peppered LIU's Clara Kammholz with shots. Despite being denied on their first two power-plays, the Blue Hens kept up their push, and they'd finally be rewarded for that work just past the midway point of the period.
Francesca Barresi made up for the power-play goal scored against Delaware with her in the sin bin when she beat Kammholz at 12:04 for the first-ever Delaware goal at the NCAA Division-1 level as she cut the deficit to 2-1! Barresi did a great job in forcing the turnover at the Delaware blue line against the aforementioned Lauren Karl, and she was off to the races as the LIU defence could not catch her. Barresi's goal was unassisted and is now part of Blue Hens history!

Not for nothing, the Barresi, the former Ottawa Lady Senators forward, was the first recruit to commit to the new Delaware program. The 18 year-old Canadian was an alternate captain with the Lady Sens last season where she scored eight goals and added eleven helpers in 33 games at the OWHL U22 AA level. She officially committed and signed with the Blue Hens in November, so the player to join the program is now in the history books as its first goal scorer!

Outside of the excitement of that goal, the Blue Hens would get no closer as LIU scored an empty-netter with 29 seconds to play to make it a 3-1 game before they added a shorthanded goal with 12 seconds left to close the book on a 4-1 victory over Delaware. There were no celebrations for a first win in their first game, but we did get to see a big goal as the program starts building towards an NCAA championship in the future. There are a number of positives that the Blue Hens can take from tonight's effort, but it's exciting to see the NCAA's newest team officially on the ice! Onward and forward!

Congratulations to the Delaware Blue Hens for a solid first game and to Ottawa-born Francesca "Franki" Barresi for her big goal! Game Two in their history will go tomorrow afternoon in a rematch against Long Island University, so we'll see if Delaware can toss that "first win" gorilla off their backs at 2pm ET when they're back on the ice!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!