Box Score
RUTLAND, Vt. – With just over eight minutes expired in the first overtime period, Alli Bianchini (Detroit, Mich.) picked the pocket of a Castleton University defenseman and beat the Spartans goaltender to give women's hockey a 2-1 win to push UMass Boston to their first New England Hockey Conference Tournament championship game in program history Friday evening at Kreitzberg Arena on the campus of Norwich University.
THE BASICS
UMass Boston 2, Castleton University 1 (OT)
UMass Boston (15-12-0)
Castleton University (17-8-2)
HOW IT HAPPENED
In perhaps their most dominant performance ever in the conference tournament, the Beacons outshot the Spartans 11-0 in the overtime frame with the 11th shot punching UMass' ticket to their first championship game. With Castleton trying to regroup in the neutral zone, Bianchini literally pulled the puck off of a Spartans player.
She then skated right at Jess Cameron, who was a wall all night for the Spartans, and beat the 2016 NEHC Goaltender of the Year. The Beacons wasted little time clearing their bench as they rushed Bianchini in what will go down as one of the most historic victories ever in women's hockey history.
With the victory, the Beacons will now face the top-seed Cadets of Norwich University at 4 p.m. tomorrow afternoon. The winner of tomorrow's championship game, will earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
If it was not for Cameron, Friday's contest would have not made it to overtime, as the Beacons dominated play from start to finish. However, it was the Spartans who struck first in the semi-final game, as they jumped out to a 1-0 lead late in the second period.
Castleton maintained the lead until the 12:37 mark of the third period, when Katie Jeter (Winthrop, Mass.) evened the score at 1-1 on a perfectly placed slap shot that caught Cameron completely by surprise. The freshman ripped the one-time from the blue line and with a perfect screen by her teammates rattled the back of the net.
That goal proved to be the switch that pushed the Beacons game to the next level, as they continued to pound the Spartans defense. Luckily for them Cameron held strong, and even stopped a one-on-one opportunity by Kristen Embrey (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) in the closing minutes of regulation.
In the OT, it was UMB from the opening face-off, as they had chance after chance to clinch the victory in the opening minutes of the extra frame. The Beacons were held at bay by the Spartans defense, while their offense was completely neutralized.
Senior Jenny Currie, who was credited with the assist on the Jeter goal, had a pair of really good chances in OT, but failed to convert, as Cameron managed to pull out huge saves on both attempts.
Anchoring the Beacons defense, which put together their best team performance this season, was sophomore Rachel Myette (Pembroke, Mass.) who made 24 stops. With the victory, Myette improved to 12-7-0 on the year.
BY THE NUMBERS
- On the day UMass Boston finished 0-for-3 on the power-play, while Castleton went 0-for-1
- The Beacons outshot Castleton 51-24
- With their 15 wins, the Beacons are now tied with the 2005-06 team for the second most wins in program history
- Alexandra Karlis (Denver, Colo.) led the contest with 16 face-off wins, as the Beacons went 34-for-71 on the dot
WHO'S NEXT
The Beacons will face Norwich University tomorrow at 4 p.m. in the NEHC Championship game.
