The Massachusetts women’s hockey team fell 2-1 to Niagara University on Friday evening after the game went into overtime. After falling 4-2 to URI the previous weekend, the Minutewomen (10-10-3) looked to take down the Purple Eagles (10-10) in their third meeting of the season.
There were 40 seconds remaining in regulation, when Niagara found the back of UMass goaltender Sarah Matthews’ net. Raya Vandenbussche received the puck from behind the net, placing it underneath Matthews and bringing the scoreline to 1-1, forcing the game into a five-minute period of overtime, in which the Minutewomen and Purple Eagles battled it out for a short two minutes before the scoreboard turned Niagara’s way.
With three players on the ice, the Purple Eagles got the better of UMass. Receiving the puck from previous goal scorer Vandenbussche, Sarah Sweitzer was able to secure the win for Niagara. Skating down from behind her blue line, Sweitzer had a clear shot into the back of Matthews’ net.
“Tough loss … we [tried to] sneak one [in] … and it just didn’t work out,” head coach Bill Wright said.
The Minutewomen snuck one past Purple Eagle goaltender Victoria Zannese with six minutes remaining in the third frame of play.
Joanna Dustin scored her 10th goal of the season when she received the puck from Kennedy Pierson from a face off by the Niagara blue line. Skating up to the circle, Dustin placed the puck around Zannese giving UMass a short advantage and sending the bench and bleachers into an uproar of cheers.
Despite the low scoreline, the contest did not lack physicality, as sticks were flying and skate blades were detached. Late in the first period, the Eagles were given a two-minute penalty for having one too many women on the ice.
Dakota Tew-Hansen was sent to the box after coming off the bench to help Raine Pankiw off the ice after her skate blade was detached in a collision with Minutewomen Sara Dunford. Niagara saw two other skaters sent to the box for a roughing and tripping penalty in the second and third frame of play.
UMass also played aggressively, seeing Ivorie Arguin and Riley Evans placed in the box for interference and checking respectively.
“Hockey is a physical and emotional game and I’m ok with the [pushing and shoving],” Wright said.
Both goaltenders were pushed to make many crucial saves. Matthews faced 38 shots on her goal and made 36 saves over the course of play, four of which were during the short overtime period after she faced three nearly consecutive shots. Zannese also defended her net well, saving 25 of the Minutewomen’s shots on goal, saving 10 in the final 20 minutes of playtime.
UMass is currently second in the Women’s Division I Independent conference, behind Arizona State University. The Minutewomen have accumulated 24 points since the beginning of the season and sit one point above Niagara who now have 23 points after Friday evenings’ win.
The two teams are scheduled to face off again to finish the series. Wright wants UMass to “go hard” as it did in the opening minutes of game time Friday evening and to “let the chips fall where they may.”
The Minutewomen will be back at the Mullins Center Community Rink Saturday Feb. 15 to face the Purple Eagles again. Puck drop is scheduled for 12:20 p.m.
Emma Bensley can be reached at [email protected].
