BOSTON, Mass. - The Saint Michael's College women's ice hockey team made a comeback in the third period before falling late in overtime to the University of  Massachusetts at Boston, 4-3, on Saturday at the Clark Athletic Center Ice Rink in an Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) East contest. The Purple Knights are now 0-5-1 overall and in league play, suffering their fourth one-goal loss. The Beacons are 3-4-1 and 2-3-1.

For the Purple Knights, seniors Kelly McDonald (South Burlington, Vt./South Burlington) and Kiera Nelligan (Melrose, Mass./Arlington Catholic) each tallied a goal and an assist while sophomore Macey Thomas (Amherst, Mass./Northfield Mount Hermon) also converted. Junior goaltender Erin Stevens (Watertown, Conn./Connecticut Polar Bears) made 43 stops, including 17 in the second period alone and two more in overtime.

For the Beacons, junior Emily LaRosa (Weymouth, Mass./Notre Dame Academy) and sophomores Sarahanne Cavolo (Roxbury, N.H./Monadnock Regional) and Kelly Sharlow (Potsdam, N.Y./Brewster Academy) each had a goal and an assist, and freshman Dylan Caron (Burrillville, R.I./Burrillville) scored. Junior goaltender Jami Cudmore (Balgonie, Saskatchewan/Weyburn Wings) made 29 saves.      

Just 4:13 into the first period, the Beacons broke onto the board, with Sharlow netting the first goal of the contest. The Purple Knights answered back 7:33 later with Nelligan finding the back of the net on a power play opportunity and knotting the score at 1-1.

Saint Michael's took the lead early in the second period when Thomas netted her first goal of the season at 5:40. However, the Beacons were quick to answer, with Caron tallying at 9:37 and LaRosa adding another marker with 2:45 left on the clock.

A mere 12 seconds into the third period, McDonald found the back of the net off an assist from Nelligan, tying the game at 3-3. The score remained deadlocked for the rest of regulation and Cavolo scored the game-winner with just 12 seconds left in overtime.

The Purple Knights head to Salve Regina University on Dec. 2 for an ECAC East game at 7 p.m.