HENNIKER, N.H. – Junior forward Lizzie Aveson (West Covina, Calif.) went-off for a career day as the California native recorded her first career hat trick, and also tallied one assist to lead women's hockey to a 5-2 New England Hockey Conference win over New England College Saturday evening at Lee Clement Arena.

THE BASICS

UMass Boston 5, New England College 2

UMass Boston (7-8-0, 5-2-0 NEHC)
New England College (6-8-0, 2-5-0 NEHC)

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Beacons, who dominated the shots column, struggled through the first two frames tallying a goal in each.  It was not until after the midway point of the third that UMass took over control of Friday's conference game scoring three unanswered scores to seal the victory.  Aveson contributed two of the final three tallies, with the final goal of the contest going to Kat Armstrong (Boulder, Colo.) on an empty-netter.

Armstrong also earned an assist on the Beacons first goal of the night, which was scored at 15:10 of the first period.  Katie Jeter (Winthrop, Mass.) drove home a one-timer off of a nice feed from Armstrong.  NEC would score the equalizer in the second period, when Lindsey Steward looped in power-play goal with 3:18 left in the frame.  Aveson would put the Beacons back out in-front when she beat Lindsey Powers off of a nice pass from Maren Brown (Brainerd, Minn.).

The third period started off with another tying goal from NEC, but the momentum would quickly shift back to the Beacons, when Aveson tipped in a loose puck.  She would then seal the victory at the 14:29 mark, before Armstrong put the final nail in the coffin in the closing seconds.

Between the pipes Rachel Myette (Pembroke, Mass.) totaled just 15 stops to earn the win, while Powers posted an impressive 42 saves.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Aveson's hat trick is the first since Sam Fallon (Pembroke, Mass.) scored three goals in the January 31, 2014 win at Nichols College.
• UMass Boston is now 12-9-2 against New England College all-time. 
• The Beacons have now won five straight over the Pilgrims
• UMass Boston finished 0-for-4 on the power play, while the Pilgrims went 1-for-2

WHO'S NEXT

The Beacons will host St. Michael's College tomorrow at 1 p.m.

Information for this release provided by New England College Sports Information Department