Second period surge powers Seahawks to 6-3 win

BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Senior Taylor Shepherd (Quincy, Mass.) scored two of her three goals during Salve Regina University's four-goal second period, as the Seahawks rallied from a 2-1 deficit to take a 6-3 win over the University of New England in ECAC Women's East ice hockey action Friday evening (Jan. 16) at the Harold Alfond Forum.

Salve Regina improved to 5-6-1 (5-3 ECAC East) on the season, while the Nor'easters dropped to 4-8-2 overall, 1-6 in league play.

Trailing 2-1 after one period, the visiting Seahawks rallied to break the game open in the middle frame. Junior Danielle Phalon (Stoneham, Mass.) tied the game at 2-2 with a short-handed goal at the 3:25 mark, then Shepherd gave Salve the lead for good at 7:59 when she converted a rebound. Sophomore Michelle Holmes (Goffstown, N.H.) made the score 4-2 in favor of the Seahawks midway thru the period, and Shepherd completed her hat-trick just over three minutes later.

Salve Regina would outshoot UNE 17-4 during the second period after trailing Big Blue 14-9 in the category over the opening 20 minutes.

Each team tallied late in the third period. UNE sophomore Melissa Boudreau (Elgin, Ill.) found the cage from the left circle with 0:35 remaining in the contest, and Seahawk junior Cheyenne Boyd (Phoenix, Ariz.) completed the scoring with eight ticks on the clock.

UNE sandwiched goals by sophomore Emily Corrales (West Hartford, Conn.) and first-year Annie Mullen (Concord, N.H.) around Shepherd's first marker of the game to take a 2-1 lead after one period.

For the game the Seahawks led 49-24 in shots on goal, with 40 of those offerings coming in the final two periods. Sophomore goaltender Colleen Marcik (Madison, Conn.) totaled 21 stops for Salve Regina, which received two assists each from junior Kimberly Spring (Kensington, Conn.) and sophomore Amanda Cronin (Medfield, Mass.).

Junior Samantha Scobee (Minnestrista, Minn.) had 13 saves in 33:23 of action for the Nor'easters. Sophomore Sydney Helmbrecht (Grand Rapids, Minn.) came on to stop 30 of 31 shots she faced over the final 26:37.

UNE returns to action tomorrow afternoon with a 3 p.m. home game versus Manhattanville College. The Seahawks play at Wesleyan University next Tuesday evening (7 p.m.).