Beacons pull away in second period to defeat Seahawks

BOSTON, Mass. – After a rocky first period, women's hockey got going in the second and never looked back as the Beacons got a pair of goals to earn a 3-1 win over Salve Regina University Saturday afternoon at the Edward T. Barry Ice Rink in the quarterfinal round of the New England Hockey Conference Tournament.

THE BASICS

#3 UMass Boston 3, #6 Salve Regina University 1

HOW IT HAPPENED

With the win on Saturday, the Beacons advance to the semi-final round of the NEHC Tournament which will be hosted by Norwich University next Friday in Vermont.  The Beacons will face the second-seeded Valiants of Manhattanville College at 7 p.m.  The top-seeded Cadets will face the fifth-seeded Nor'Easters of the University of New England at 4 p.m.

The Seahawks struck first in the opening period when the Beacons turned the puck over right in front of their own net.  Briana D'Avolio picked-up the loose puck and netted it to give Salve the early 1-0 lead.  However that lead lasted just moments as Rachel Peacock (Billerica, Mass.) evened the score.  The freshman collected the puck in her own end and brought it up on the far side of the ice.

She would then cut to goal and with a perfectly timed screen by Kaleigh Beauregard (Gaylord, Mich.), Peacock netted her sixth of the season.

The two teams would head into the break deadlocked at 1-1 with both teams each recording 10 shots on goal. 

In the second, Lizzie Aveson (West Covina, Calif.) gave UMB their first lead of the night on a snipe from right outside the crease, after beating a Seahawks defenseman one-on-one.  Bri Collucci (Lancaster, N.Y.) would find a wide open Emily Harris (Littleton, Colo.) at the blue line.  Harris would then rifle the puck across ice to Aveson. 

Harris would seal the win for the Beacons at the 13:35 mark on a hard fought play.  The sophomore transfer forced a turnover deep in the Salve end, and fired the puck home to the near post to give UMass a comfortable two goal lead. 

Now with the momentum in their favor, UMB's defense did the rest of the work, as the completely shut down Salve.  The Seahawks would come close midway through the third period, but All-Conference goaltender Rachel Myette (Duxbury, Mass.) stopped every chance to keep her team's lead intact.

BY THE NUMBERS

• With the win UMass Boston sets the program record for wins on their home ice with 11
• UMass Boston is now 17-12-1 against Salve Regina
• The Beacons recorded their first three game (3-0) sweep of the Seahawks in program history
• Myette finished the win with 25 saves to improve to 4-0 in conference tournament play
• Jennifer O'Connell made a combined 30 stops for the Seahawks
• UMass Boston went 0-for-4 on the PP, while Salve finished 0-for-6
• UMass Boston outshot Salve Regina 33-26
• The Beacons have now won three straight games where they trailed first

WHO'S NEXT

The Beacons will travel to Norwich University on Friday where they will face Manhattanville College at 7 p.m. in the conference semi-final.