Porter, Simmons lead Seahawks past UMass Boston, 2-1

NEWPORT, R.I. - Freshman Rachel Porter (Franklin, Mass.) potted the game-winning goal midway through the third period and sophomore goaltender Rebecca Simmons (Averill Park, N.Y.) made 35 saves to lead the Salve Regina University women's ice hockey team to a 2-1 win over UMass Boston in ECAC action Saturday night at St. George's Rink.

Junior Molly Golden (Milton, Mass.) also scored for the Seahawks, who have won two of their three games and improved to 3-2 (2-1 ECAC) on the season. Sophomore Leah Hallett (Rocky Hill, Conn.) made 41 saves for the Beacons, who slipped to 1-3 (1-3 ECAC).

The Seahawks won this contest with their penalty kill. After allowing a power-play goal to UMass Boston on its first extra-man opportunity of the contest, the Seahawks killed off the Beacons final seven PP chances, including five in the second period.

"UMass Boston is a quality opponent, so it's nice to get a win when we played good hockey, but not great," said Salve Regina head coach Michael Cox. "Rebecca is definitely a top-notch goaltender. She did her job and came up big for us tonight, especially when we left things a little bare in front of her."

The Seahawks were in the midst of a penalty kill with a faceoff in the Beacons end of the ice when Porter notched the game-winner for Salve Regina. Sophomore Drew Chernisky (Valley View, Ohio) won the draw to Porter, who rifled a shot from the slot over Hallett's glove hand at 8:46. "It was nice to see Rachel get her first goal," said Cox. "We've seen that a lot in practice. She's really good at picking the corners, and it's only a matter of time before our other freshmen get going. When that happens, they'll start to come in bunches."

Simmons did the rest from there, stopping all eight shots in the third, including a key save on junior Kristen Smith (Beavercreek, Ohio) at the left post with 38 ticks left on the clock.

Golden's fourth goal of the season just 3:53 into the contest gave the Seahawks a 1-0 lead. Freshman Melanie Sherlock (Colorado Springs, Colo.) fired a shot from the right side of the net that was stopped by Hallett, but Golden was parked in front and swiped the rebound into the left side of the net at 3:52. Porter was credited with the second assist.

The Beacons tied the game at one with a power-play marker at 17:14 of the opening stanza. With Golden in the box for tripping, junior Jazz Webber (Winslow, Maine) put a shot from the point on goal that was jammed at by several Beacons and eventually put home by Duran. Junior Rachel Sousa (Woburn, Mass.) was involved in the scrum in front of Simmons and picked up the primary helper.

Salve Regina outshot the Beacons 43-36 on the evening and finished 0-for-4 on the power play. The Beacons were 1-for-8 with the man-advantage.

The Seahawks return to action on Friday when they travel to Castleton State for a 4 p.m. contest. The Beacons play at Norwich Friday at 7 p.m.