BRIDGEWATER, Mass. — A third-straight trip to overtime saw the Sacred Heart University women's ice hockey team earn its first point of the weekend, battling the Stonehill Skyhawks to a 2-2 tie at Bridgewater Ice Arena on Friday evening.
After splitting the first two meetings of the year, both squads continued their grueling, hard-nosed contests in the first period with neither side able to capitalize on their chances in the period. The Pioneers started the better of the two sides, earning multiple power-play opportunities in the first half of the frame, but a stingy Stonehill defense negated any chance for the visitors to grab an early lead. The hosts, though, struck back late in the frame with chances of their own, including a shot late in the frame that beat sophomore netminder
Jillian Petruno, but was negated by the post, keeping the game level as the sides skated into a scoreless tie after 20 minutes of play.
After a lackluster first period for both teams, the Pioneers finally struck through in the middle frame, taking the lead with
Cassie Nevers' sixth goal of the season just over five minutes into the second period.
Both teams continued to battle through the middle part of the fame with both netminders coming up with big saves for their respective teams. However, the Pios continued to be the aggressor, dominating the net-front, resulting in
Grayson Limke's third goal of the season that increased the SHU lead to two.
Following an extended amount of zone time in the Stonehill end, the Pios regrouped on the rush quickly gaining a personnel advantage. After a strong of passes below the goal line, the puck found Limke near the hash marks as she sent a wrister that handcuffed Stonehill's Eve Stone into the back of the net to give SHU a 2-0 lead with under five to go in the frame.
Late in the frame, the hosts cut the deficit in half as the Pios found themselves in penalty trouble, giving Stonehill a five-on-three opportunity with under two to go in the second period. Though the Pios killed off the first minor, Stonehill's Alexis Petford put the hosts on the board, sending a one-timer past Petruno with 29 seconds left to give Stonehill life as the period ended with the Pios up, 2-1.
Utilizing the momentum they gained at the end of the second period, the Skyhawks tied the game within the first two minutes of the third as a turnover in the SHU zone found the stick of Petford, who wired a shot past a screened Petruno to level the game, 2-2.
Following Stonehill's game-tying tally, the Pios responded by hemming the Skyhawks back in their zone for the better part of the frame but could not solve Stone, who pitched a shutout in the third period to send the game to overtime with the score tied, 2-2.
In the overtime, both teams took their liberties, but could not find the back of the net as a multitude of chances went begging.
Isabella Chaput had one of SHU's best chances in the frame go wide while
Cassie Nevers' bid for her second of the game caught Stone and went out of play as the teams split the points with the game ending in a 2-2 tie.
Top Performers:
Up Next:
The Pios conclude the weekend with a rematch against Stonehill on Saturday, January 27, finishing up the regular-season series against the Skyhawks from Bridgewater Ice Arena at 1 p.m. More information can be found at sacredheartpioneers.com.
