MIDDLETOWN, R.I. - Two mid-third-period power-play goals gave the Saint Michael's College women's ice hockey team the lead before junior Abby Burke (Bedford, Mass./The Rivers School) made nine of her career-high-tying 54 saves in overtime to salvage a 2-2 tie with Salve Regina University on Saturday evening at Saint George's School's Howard Rink. The Purple Knights bookended the regular season with ties, as they are now 5-17-2 overall heading into the postseason while finishing 3-13-1 in New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) play. The Seahawks are 10-12-3 and 8-7-2.

Senior Emily Loebs (Acton, Mass./Minuteman Lady Flames) and junior Erin Dwyer (Weymouth, Mass./Archbishop Williams) scored for Saint Michael's, with classmate Carolyn Avery (Lexington, Mass./Lexington) assisting both. Burke matched a save total she had last notched on Nov. 9, 2013, during her first career start, against No. 4 Norwich University. She now has 10 30-save games this season. Senior Kaly Spilhaus (Bourne, Mass./Groton School) went 12-for-25 on faceoffs, and Avery was 10-for-21. The tie marked the Purple Knights' first contest with Salve Regina that did not end in a loss since Feb. 6, 2005. During the game, Dwyer moved into a tie with senior Amanda Kempainen (Chazy, N.Y./Chazy Flyers U19) for eighth in program history in career goals (19). Burke's 586 saves this year put her sixth in school annals.

Senior Cheyenne Boyd scored both of the Seahawks' goals, while first-year Jennifer O'Connell made 39 saves.

Salve Regina held a 17-8 advantage in shots during the opening period, with Burke yielding only a lone tally. The Purple Knights killed off a penalty near the midway point of the stanza, as Burke made one stop and junior Tori Dinger (Norwell, Mass./Norwell) blocked another bid in that time, before Boyd broke the stalemate at 15:32, converting an unassisted tally. The next three shots came from Saint Michael's players, including two by junior Sarah Bagley (Concord, Mass./Concord-Carlisle), but O'Connell stopped them all, and Burke had another four stops before the final horn.

The Purple Knights held a 17-14 edge in shots during a scoreless second period, when the teams earned three combined power plays, including two for the visitors. Bagley and Dwyer were both denied on the first power play, which began 4:02 into the period, while Burke picked up four saves during a Seahawk woman advantage that started at 7:23. Two more Purple Knights were turned away on a Saint Michael's extra-woman stretch that began at the 12:13 mark, when Burke also denied a shorthanded bid, before Salve Regina held the upper hand during two minutes of 4-on-4 play, sending two on Burke while also once ringing the post.

The hosts were unable to release any shots during a power play early in the third period before the Purple Knights cashed in on a pair of power-play opportunities, including one 5-on-3 chance. Just three seconds prior to the end of the two-woman advantage, Loebs scored off of Avery's faceoff win 9:08 into the period after O'Connell had rattled off three saves in the prior minute. Eleven seconds after the second penalty expired, Saint Michael's earned another power play, and Burke stopped a shorthanded chance before Avery carried to the other end and fed Dwyer for the go-ahead marker at 10:46. However, Boyd knotted the game with 3:10 left in regulation. Burke had another six stops prior to the buzzer, while Kempainen had the Purple Knights' lone two bids that hit net, with O'Connell saving both.

Burke made nine more saves in overtime, including seven during an opening-minute flurry around Salve Regina winning three faceoffs, and Kempainen countered with a drive from the right circle with 3:30 to go that was saved. With less than 1:30 left, three straight Purple Knight shots were denied by O'Connell, including one as she was on her back looking for the puck before covering at the left side of the net. Burke picked up her final two stops before sophomore Ashley Dineen's (Somers, N.Y./Canterbury School) final bid was turned away in the closing 20 seconds.

As the fifth seed in this coming week's NEHC Open Tournament, the Purple Knights head to No. 4 Sacred Heart University on Wednesday for a play-in game at 7 p.m. The winner heads to Saint Anselm College for semifinals and the championship and consolation games next weekend.