Seahawks drop OT heartbreaker to NEC in playoffs, 4-3

PORTSMOUTH, R.I. - Junior Courtney Kerslake (Sarnia, Ontario) scored her second goal of the game 7:59 into overtime to cap a three-goal comeback and lead the New England College women's ice hockey team past Salve Regina University, 4-3, in Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Women's East Quarterfinal action Friday evening at Portsmouth Abbey Arena. The win sends the Pilgrims to the ECAC Semifinals while the Seahawks end their season at 13-10-3.

The Pilgrims trailed 3-0 entering the third period before goals by senior Danielle Taylor (Bridgewater, Mass.), Kerslake, and freshmen Stephanie Spera (Stoughton, Mass.) in the first 11:31 of the period evened the score. Spera's 11th of the season on the power-play got NEC on the board at 7:26. Twenty-eight seconds later, Taylor's 10th of the season brought the Pilgrims to within a goal and induced Salve Regina head coach Michael Cox to use his timeout. Following the break, Kerslake potted her third of the season at 11:31 off a feed from freshman and leading-scorer Kate Kellar (Pittsfield, Mass.) to knot the game at three.

New England College held a 7-3 edge in shots in the overtime, the last of which squeaked through the pads of SRU sophomore goalie Rebecca Simmons (Averill Park, N.Y.). Spera picked up the primary assist on the game-winner, feeding Kerslake with a pass through the neutral zone. The forward skated over the blue line and wristed a shot from just above the circles that beat Simmons and snapped the Pilgrims four-game winless streak against Salve Regina (0-3-1).

"I thought we really played a great game. We have the ability to play our best when the games count the most, and we did that," said Cox. "These 4-5 (seed) games can go either way, and I had a feeling this would be a one-goal game, perhaps even got to overtime. These are two evenly-matched teams, and it just didn't go our way."

Junior Kendra Andre (Muskegon, Mich.) got the Seahawks on the board 3:08 into the contest when she redirected a shot from the right point by junior Danika Williams (Fairbanks, Alaska) past NEC sophomore netminder Teraysa White (Belgrade, Maine) for her fourth of the season. Sophomore Shannon Ellis (Colorado Springs, Colo.) notched the second assist on the goal. Late in the first, Small scored her first of the season off a feed from her defense partner, sophomore Jen Thiesing (Sandwich, Mass.), with 56 seconds remaining in the opening stanza. The Seahawks outshot NEC 16-7 through the first 20 minutes.

In the second, Small helped stake the Seahawks to a commanding 3-0 lead. The junior's shot from the left point was redirected by freshman Rachel Porter (Franklin, Mass.) and past White for her second goal of the season at 18:09. However, NEC picked up its play in the offensive end in the second, outshooting the Seahawks 13-8 in the middle frame.

The Pilgrims converted on one of their seven power-play chances while the Seahawks went scoreless on five chances with the extra skater. White finished the night with 36 saves while Simmons stopped 33 shots for Salve Regina, which held a 39-37 edge in shots.

The Pilgrims next contest will not be determined until the conclusion of the remaining three quarterfinal contests, which feature No. 1 Manhattanville hosting No. 8 Nichols, No.2 Norwich facing off against No. 7 Castleton State, and No. 3 UMass Boston playing host to No. 6 Southern Maine. All three contests are slated to begin at 3 p.m. Saturday.