GORHAM, Maine – In a pivotal New England Hockey Conference matchup for the standings, UMass Boston Women's Ice Hockey was unable to overcome an early two-goal deficit, falling to University of Southern Maine, 2-1, Friday evening on the road.
The Beacons currently sit sixth in the conference standings, trailing the Huskies by five points and Castleton University by eight points to move into a situation in which they would host a first round playoff game.
THE BASICS
UMass Boston 1, University of Southern Maine 2
UMass Boston (7-10-1, 5-5-1 NEHC)
University of Southern Maine (9-9-0, 7-4-0 NEHC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Freshman defender Caroline Thompson would get Southern Maine on the board first when freshman forward Olivia Stewart found her for game's opening goal with less than three minutes to go in the first period. UMass Boston would trail 1-0 after one period, being outshot 12-10 in shots on goal but going a perfect 2-for-2 on the penalty kill as well.
The Huskies would extend their lead in the second when less than two minutes into the period Stewart and freshman forward Saige McLeod teamed up to assist on freshman forward Sydnee Chaisson's goal to give Southern Maine the two-goal advantage. However, the Beacons would cut their deficit in half, 2-1, when freshman Adrianna Crepaldi netted her second goal of the season, unassisted, just under seven minutes into the period.
Freshman goalie
Leah Bosch made 16 saves in the middle 20 minutes of play while facing 17 total shots in the period while junior goalie Haley McKim stopped 10 of 11 shots to help maintain the one-goal lead for the Huskies heading into the third period.
A third period riddled with penalties would find UMass Boston both teams with a 5-on-3 advantage at different points of the frame. However, defense ruled the final 20 minutes of the game as the Huskies would outshoot the Beacons just by a margin of 10-7, holding on for the 2-1 win and sweeping the two-game season series.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Leah Bosch finished the game with 37 saves on the 39 attempts she faced from the Huskies
- Haley McKim stopped 27 of the 28 shots taken by UMass Boston
- UMass Boston has lost six of their last seven matchups against Southern Maine and are 1-7-1 since the 2018-19 season
- The UMass Boston penalty kill went 5-for-6 in the contest
WHO'S NEXT
UMass Boston takes on Salem State University on the road tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 PM in a New England Hockey Conference matchup. The Beacons defeated the Vikings at home earlier this season in shutout fashion, 4-0.
