The Massachusetts women’s hockey team made its final trip to the Brad Boss Ice Arena on Friday. A game that also marked their last of the regular season, the Minutewomen fell 5-3 to Rhode Island.
The No.7 Minutewomen (16-5-1) are now 4-2 this season against No.18 URI (8-12-1). Despite outshooting the Rams 27-21 UMass was only able to put up three goals throughout 60 minutes of play.
URI struck first on the scoresheet 6:34 into the first period. Defenseman Meagan Wentworth found the back of the net unassisted for her third goal of the season. UMass’ Maya Borden answered back early in the following period. On the powerplay, Borden was able to find the connection off passes from Olivia Perenick and Danielle Craig.
The Minutewomen’s momentum was soon halted. Less than three minutes after Borden’s goal, the Rams’ Abbi Sampson found the net, giving Rhode Island a 2-1 lead. Off a checking penalty on UMass, Rams’ Maleah Gillette was able to score on the one-man advantage past the pads of Mary Honan.
Katherine Paradis and Holly Russell continued their offensive dominance with 5:39 remaining in the second period. Russell notched her 19th assist of the season, saucing the puck to Paradis for her ninth goal.
The score now 3-2 URI, the game being within one quickly dissipated in the third period. UMass’ Brianna O’Neill was put into the box on two penalties, a two-minute checking minor and butt-ending 15-minute major misconduct. This ultimately led to two URI powerplay goals from Logan Bruns and Sampson, giving the Rams a 5-2 lead.
The Minutewomen answered back one more time before the game’s completion. Paradis earned her second point of the evening, sending a pass to Katerina Nikolopoulos for her 13th goal, ending the game at 5-3.
The goaltending for the Rams proved to be a key element to their victory over UMass. The freshman goaltender, Madeline Ashenfelter got her fourth nod of the season on Friday. In Ashenfelter’s three complete games in net, this marked her second win over the Minutewomen, the first coming in URI’s overtime win against UMass on Feb. 12.
Ashfelter stopped 25 shots against a UMass team that has put up high scoring for most of its season. Her performance is one emblematic of a bright future for Rhode Island, whose starting goaltender Amelia Lambert is also a freshman.
With the ACHA D1 rankings recently released, the Minutewomen have officially punched their ticket to the National Tournament in St. Louis, Mo. This marks the 16th time in the past 17 seasons that UMass has reached postseason play. The tournament is set to begin on March 16 with UMass taking on No. 6 ranked Indiana Tech at 11 a.m. Streaming of the game is available via membership to HockeyTV.
Shanti Furtado can be reached at [email protected] and @ShantiFurtado on Twitter.
