On Fri, Feb 7, UMass Boston’s women’s hockey traveled to Gorham, ME, for a weekend series against the Southern Maine Huskies.
The week before, the Huskies swept their last opponent, Albertus Magnus College, and sat at 7-5-2 going into the series. The Beacons were swept by nationally ranked Norwich College the week before and sat with an 8-12-1. It was a pivotal NEHC matchup for both squads in front of around 100 roaring fans. Freshman goalie Veronika Hadamovsky started in net for UMass Boston as the two teams got ready to face off.
The Beacons held the advantage in every category. They outshot Southern Maine 20-12 through two periods but still found themselves down 1-0 after a goal from the Huskies’ Ally Stymiest 14 minutes into the first. UMass Boston didn’t respond until around four minutes into the third when Cassidy Morrison tied the game with a short-handed goal with an assist from Gianna Skrelja. UMass Boston also held the advantage in the face-off circle, winning 36 faceoffs to Southern Maine’s 16. They also played great on the power play, holding the Huskies to go 0/3. The game went into overtime tied at 1-1 all and was a tough battle all the way through. The Huskies squeaked in another goal with 1:49 left to take the win, 2-1.
Cassidy Morrison scored her team-leading sixth goal of the season. Emily Morrison went 17-6 on faceoffs to lead the team, and Katie Wilbert was a close second, winning 12 out of 18. The next day on Feb 8. The Beacons took the ice to play the second game of the series with Hadamovsky still in net. UMass Boston dominated play early again and outshot the Huskies 24–11 in the first period. It was a defensive battle until Ally Stymiest of Southern Maine opened the scoring at the very end of the period. It was a defensive battle yet again in the second, but UMass Boston battled back with a goal by sophomore Gianna Skrelja as the second period came to a close. In the third, Liz Kramp scored her third goal of the season to get the Beacons ahead by one. Southern Maine countered late in the period to make it 2 apiece. UMass Boston had to score quickly to walk out with the series split. With five minutes left in the game, grad student Katie Wilbert got UMass Boston ahead, and they secured the 3–2 win.
Splitting the series put the Beacons in fifth place in the NEHC and placed Southern Maine in sixth. All three UMass Boston goals were scored on the power play, scoring on three of their six chances. The Beacons also went 38–12 on faceoffs as a team, and Emily Hansen led all players with 14 faceoffs won. UMass Boston outshot the Huskies again, 39–15.
UMass Boston now looks forward to the NEHC tournament on Sat Feb 22. The first stop on the road to an NEHC championship and a possible ticket to the NCAA tournament.
