Porter breaks century mark in 5-1 win

BURRILLVILLE, R.I. – With her two assists in the first period, senior Rachel Porter (Franklin, Mass.) eclipsed the 100-point mark for the Salve Regina women's ice hockey team as she helped the Seahawks to 5-1 victory over Nichols to close out the regular season.

Porter is the only member of the Salve Regina women's ice hockey program to ever break the 100-point mark for their career.

The Seahawks finish the regular season 15-10 with an 11-7 ECAC East slate while the Bison fall to 4-19-1 on the year and 2-14-1 in the conference.

Sophomore Michaela Chiuccariello (Winchester, Mass.)  got the visiting Seahawks on the board early in the first period during their first power play of the game. Chiuccariello took a feed from sophomore Talyor Shepherd (Quincy, Mass.) on the ensuing faceoff after the Bison penalty. Freshman Cheyenne Boyd (Phoenix, Ariz.) sent the eventual game-winner home as she beat the goalie on the blocker side off Porter's second assist of the game and a feed from senior Caitlyn Farragher (Plymouth, Mass.).

Senior Samantha Zitzer (River Forest, Ill.) capitalized on the Seahawks final power play of the opening period to give Salve Regina a 3-0 lead off a pass from freshman Danielle Phalon (Stoneham, Mass.).

After almost two full periods, the Bison found their first and only goal of the game at 19:14 mark in the second period as  Nichols sophomore Alyssa Bufis (Linden, N.J.) knocked home a feed from classmate Samantha Vicari (Wayne, N.J.) with 46 seconds left in the second frame. The play started as senior Stacey McGrath (Buffalo, N.Y.) won the faceoff and sent the puck to Vicari waiting in the left corner.

Sophomore Sarah Markey (Ashland, Mass.) gave the Seahawks a three-goal lead to finish the second period as she deposited a rebound with five seconds left before the intermission as Shepherd and Chiuccariello each picked up their second point of the night.

Senior Kelsey Talty (Fairpoint, N.Y.) capped the scoring for the game with 8:12 to play in the final period as she scored an unassisted goal to give Salve Regina a 5-1 victory.

Senior goaltender Ali Muehlbronner (Glenside, Pa.) turned away 19 shots in the first 40 minutes of play to improve to 15-10-0. Freshman Mariah Mosher (Auburn, Maine) was called upon to make six stops in her fifth appearance of the season. Nichols first-year Nia Kelly (Cary, N.C.) collected 44 saves – including 14 on the power play - and fell to 3-10-0 on the year. 

Salve Regina returns to the ice when the Seahawks host Southern Maine on Saturday, Feb. 23 in the opening round of the 2013 ECAC East playoffs at 7 p.m. The Seahawks earned the No. 3 seed in the tournament while Southern Maine comes in as the No. 6 seed.