Seahawks hold off Purple Knights

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. - The Salve Regina women's ice hockey team held off a late comeback from St. Michael's College to defeat the Purple Knights, 3-2, on Friday night in Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) East action at Cairns Arena. The Purple Knights fall to 0-4 overall and 0-3 in the league while the Seahawks improve to 2-1 and 1-1.

Purple Knight senior Macey Thomas (Amherst, Mass./Northfield Mount Hermon) and sophomore Emily Loebs(Acton, Mass./Minuteman Lady Flames) each had goals while junior Fernanda Saavedra (Miami, Fla./Pittsburgh Penguins Elite) contributed with an assist. First-year goaltender Abby Burke (Bedford, Mass./Assabet Valley Patriots) stopped 26 shots.

Seahawk junior Taylor Shepherd (Quincy, Mass./Fontbonne Academy) had a goal and an assist, and sophomoresShelby Johnson (Sterling, Mass./Vermont Academy) and Kimberly Spring (Kensington, Conn./Connecticut Polar Bears) each tallied. Senior Monika Borkowski (Ann Arbor, Mich./Honeybaked), junior Sarah Markey (Ashland, Mass./Charles River), and sophomore Danielle Phalon (Stoneham, Mass./East Coast Wizards) each had an assist. First-year goalie Colleen Marcik (Madison, Conn./The Taft School) stopped 16 shots. Johnson gave the Seahawks the lead at 6:38 of the first period, finding a loose puck in front of the net that passed by Phalon. Thomas tied the game with a minute left in the period on a breakaway, with her first shot saved by Marcik, and then she put the rebound into the open net.

Spring gave the Seahawks a 2-1 lead at 8:43 of the second period, receiving a pass from Shepard on 2-on-1 breakaway. The Purple Knights had an opportunity in a span of five seconds leading up to 6:31into  to tie the game three consecutive shots by Thomas, first-year Erin Dwyer (Weymouth, Mass./Charles River), and sophomore Caitie Shea(Smithfield, R.I./Mount Saint Charles Academy), respectively, that were all saved by Marcik. Salve Regina added to its lead with 2:32 remaining in the period on a redirected shot taken by Sarah Markey that was tipped in by Shepard. With an extra attacker and time winding down, Loebs pulled her team within a goal with 40 seconds remaining in the game. However, the Purple Knights were unable to tie the game as their final shot by Thomas went wide of the net in the last 30 seconds.

Salve Regina travels to Norwich on Saturday for a 3 p.m. start.