Purple Knights rally falls short in third period in conference opener

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Contact: Tony Bonvechio - Phone: (802) 654-2929

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. – The Saint Michael's College women's hockey team (0-2-0, 0-1-0 ECAC East) netted two goals within 40 seconds in the third period to force a 2-all tie, but New England College answered just as quickly to take a 3-2 win in the Purple Knights' Eastern College Athletic Conference Women's East opener.

Sophomore Kate Kellar (Pittsfield, Mass./Troy-Albany Ice Cats) struck first for the Pilgrims, scoring in the eighth minute on assists from freshman Alexis Fitzpatrick (Somerville, Mass./Cambridge Rindge & Latin) and senior Rachel White (Arlington, Mass./Arlington). Junior Kaleigh Costello (Hudson, N.H./Austin Prep) pounced on a rebound off shots from Kellar and sophomore Samantha Hippern (Dover, N.H./Saint Thomas Aquinas) to give New England a 2-0 edge early in the second period.

Saint Michael's formulated a rally in the third period when the Purple Knights held a 5-on-3 advantage, starting with a blazing slap shot by senior Meghan Colitti (Dover, N.H./Berwick Academy) just inside the blue line to cut the deficit in half. Just 35 seconds later, junior Madelena Santore (Millington, N.J./Rutgers Univ./New Jersey Rockets) gathered a Kiera Nelligan (Melrose, Mass./Arlington Catholic) rebound and snuck in a wraparound power play goal to tie things up at 2-2.

Twenty-eight seconds later and with both sides at even strength, freshman Kristin Dehm (Milford, Conn./Conn. Polar Bears) wasted no time dumping in the unassisted game-winner on a slick wrist shot.

Senior goalie Alysia Goldman (Ballston Lake, N.Y./Hebron Academy) tallied a season-best 32 saves for Saint Michael's, while junior Teraysa White (Belgrade, Maine/Brewster Academy) made 14 saves for New England.

The Purple Knights return to action on Saturday when they host Castleton at 3 p.m.

GAME SUMMARY

New England     1 1 1  -3

Saint Michael's 0 0 2  -2

First Period: 1. NEC, Kellar (Fitzpatrick, White), 8:49.

Second Period: 2. NEC, Costello (Kellar, Hippern), 2:06.

Third Period: 3. SMC, Colitti, 8:33. 4. SMC, Santore (Nelligan), 9:08. 5. NEC, Dehm, 9:36.

Shots on Goal: NEC (11 – 11 – 13 – 35), SMC (5 – 4 – 7 – 16)

Saves: NEC, White, 14 saves; SMC, Goldman, 32 saves.  

                                                                   -PURPLEKNIGHTS-