BOSTON, Mass.  –  Earlier this season, UMass Boston Women's Ice Hockey went on the road to face nationally ranked Norwich University and left Northfield, Vermont with a lopsided 10-0 loss. On Friday night inside the Edward T. Barry Ice Rink, that same UMass Boston team came within 25 seconds of taking down eighth-nationally ranked Norwich in dramatic fashion, settling for a 4-4 tie after the teams played five minutes of overtime with no decisive goal scored.

It was a testament to the resilience and heart of a young UMass Boston squad who came into the contest as an underdog, having lost their previous 12 matchups with the Cadets, but headed into the third period with a 4-3 edge over Norwich and fought back from a 3-2 deficit in the second.

THE BASICS

UMass Boston 4, #8 Norwich University 4

UMass Boston (6-9-1, 4-4-1 NEHC)

#8 Norwich University (9-4-1, 7-1-1 NEHC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Freshman forward Sydney Leonard got the scoring started for UMass Boston, taking away the puck in the Beacon defensive zone and going end to end, firing a shot on junior goalie Leocadia Clark that squirted between her leg for the first goal of the contest. The Beacons would tack on a second goal in the period when freshman forward Isabella Henningsson-Brown found junior Katie Wilbert in front of Clark for the top left shot making it 2-0.

With UMass Boston on the power play, Norwich would look to steal back momentum when an initial shot from freshman forward Olivia Boyer was turned away by freshman goalie Leah Bosch. On the bounce, senior forward Ann-Frederique Guay located senior forward Mikah Baptiste in front for the shorthanded goal, cutting the Beacon lead down to one, 2-1.

Momentum would swing wildly between the two teams in the second frame, first in favor of the Cadets. A flurry of shots by Norwich allowed them to take the lead for the first time on the evening, scoring two goals in the opening eight minutes and change. The first came just 26 seconds into the period when sophomore forward Taylor Girouard went top shelf on Bosch, knotting the game up at two on passes from Boyer and Guay.

Girouard would net her second of the game to give the Cadets the lead, 3-2, when Boyer's initial shot from graduate defender Emma O'Neill went wide right and onto the stick of Girouard on the right side who knocked it past Bosch. But the young, scrappy Beacons team continued to fight back, and freshman Mia Boyd's first collegiate goal would provide the momentum swing UMass Boston needed to get back into the game. Off a flick pass from senior forward Hannah MacDougall, Boyd fired past a heavily guard Clark's left side, tying the game up at three all.
 
Having a golden opportunity to regain the lead with a 5-on-3 power play, sophomore defender Margeaux Butters did just that after getting passes from sophomore forward Liz Kramp and senior forward Cailey Kozich at the right point. Butter rifled a one-timer into the top left side of the goal, giving UMass Boston the 4-3 advantage heading into the final period of play.

The Beacons would stand tall through much of the third period, looking to pull off a major upset at home. But with the goalie pulled, the Cadets' offense continuously peppered Bosch and a loose puck with 25 seconds left found the stick of Guay who pushed it by the freshman goalie, knotting the game up at four to send it to overtime.

Despite being outshot 7-0 in the extra period, UMass Boston would work a 4-4 tie after a couple of impressive saves from Bosch in net and a disallowed goal for the Cadets in the closing seconds with a 4-on-3 advantage that was kicked into the goal mouth.
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Norwich University came into the game with a power play conversion of 31.6%, but the UMass Boston defense went a perfect 6-for-6 on the penalty kill in the game
• The tie snaps a 12-game losing streak for the Beacons against the Cadets with their last win coming in the New England Hockey Conference Championship Game back in 2016
• This was the first time in which UMass Boston has scored four-plus goals against Norwich since their first game against the Cadets back in 2007, a 9-0 win on the road
• The last time UMass Boston beat a ranked team was the 2016 NEHC Championship Game when they beat seventh in the nation Norwich University, 2-0, on the road

WHO'S NEXT
UMass Boston closes their four-game homestand with a matchup against New England College tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 PM inside the Edward T. Barry Ice Rink. The Beacons have won 17 consecutive games against the Pilgrims dating back to the 2011-12 season in which they were swept in the home and away series.