Zitzer scores late to help SRU defeat Castleton State, 3-2

MIDDLETOWN, R.I. - Freshman Samantha Zitzer (River Forest, Ill.) scored her second goal of the night with 3.9 seconds remaining in regulation to lift the Salve Regina University women's ice hockey team to a 3-2 win over Castleton State in Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) East action Saturday night at St. George's Rink.

Junior captain Sarah Small (Medfield, Mass.) recorded a pair of assists as the Seahawks improved to 5-2-1 in their last eight games and 12-4-3 (9-2-3 ECAC) on the season. Freshman Katharyn Dembrowski (Elkridge, Md.) made 42 saves for the Spartans, who slipped to 3-15-1 (3-10-1 ECAC).

The Spartans trailed the Seahawks 2-0 entering the third period, but goals by juniors Laura Szwed (White Lake, Mich.) at 4:31 and Amy Costa (Bristol, R.I.) at 13:20 evened the score at two. With time winding down in the third, Small played the puck to Zitzer, who potted her fourth of the season to give Salve Regina the win and avoid its fourth overtime contest this month.

"We seem to have a tendency to pull things out at the end," said Seahawk head coach Michael Cox. "I guess we'll look at that as a positive. We had a lot of chances in the first and second periods to increase our lead, so this is a lesson learned for us. We're a little beat up both emotionally and physically, and I give the kids a lot of credit for gutting this out."

The Seahawks grabbed a 1-0 lead at 18:59 of the opening stanza. Junior Kristen Cokely (Cambridge, Mass.) started the play with a breakout pass to freshman Sarah McCusker (Havertown, Pa.), who skated in 2-on-1 with Zitzer. McCusker fed Zitzer in the right circle, and she fired a shot that beat Dembrowski.

In the second, Salve Regina stretched its lead to 2-0 when sophomore Shannon Ellis (Colorado Springs, Colo.) collected a rebound off a point shot by Small and backhanded the puck past Dembrowski at 6:53. The goal was her third of the season and first on the power-play.

The Seahawks outshot the Spartans 45-17 on the evening and converted on one of their eight chances with the extra attacker. Castleton was unable to capitalize on four PP chances.

Sophomore Rebecca Simmons (Averill Park, N.Y.) made 15 saves to improve to 5-4-3 on the season while Dembrowski fell to 2-13-0.

Salve Regina returns to action on Friday when it hosts Norwich at Boss Ice Arena on the University of Rhode Island campus at 4 p.m. The Spartans play at Connecticut College Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m.