Porter sets points mark as Seahawks and Bison skate to 4-4 draw

HARRISVILLE, R.I. – Junior Rachel Porter (Franklin, Mass.) set the Salve Regina program record for points in a single season as the Seahawks battled the Bison of Nichols College to a hard-fought 4-4 overtime draw on Saturday night at Levy Rink in an ECAC East women's ice hockey contest. The Seahawks, winners of the seven prior meetings, move to 10-8-5 overall and 6-6-4 in the conference as the Bison now sport a 6-15-2 record on the season and 3-11-2 in league play.

Porter had two points, compiling both a goal and an assist, giving her 30 points on the season to surpass Caitlin Campbell's previous mark of 28 points set during the 2008-09 campaign. 

The Bison registered the first goal of the evening at 13:59 as first-year Kerri Nadeau (Chepachet, R.I.) threaded traffic with a shot from the circle. She would get help from sophomore Megan Gerein (Dubuque, Iowa) and senior Mandy Manopla (West Palm Beach, Calif.).

Nichols lead would increase its lead with a goal from Gerein with 8:01 remaining in the second period. The sophomore finished off a shot taken by rookie Grace Murphy (Montclair, Va.). Manopla left the puck for Murphy who was streaking to the point.

At 17:03 in the middle frame Salve Regina sliced into the hosts lead as rookie Michaela Chiuccariello (Winchester, Mass.) buried a rebound following a pair of shots from sophomore Natalia Madryga (Burnsville, Minn.) and junior Melanie Sherlock (Colorado Springs, Colo.).

First-year Lisa Coskren (Norwood, Mass.) scored her first collegiate goal on a tip-in on the low blocker side with aid from classmate Talia Hohmann (Marina, Calif.) and junior Mary Fehr (Leamington, Ontario) at 2:43 in the third stanza.

In a span of 1:55 midway through the third period, Salve Regina posted three goals to take the 4-3  lead. The sequence began as Porter swiped the puck in the neutral zone, eked by a defender and found the back of the net on the high glove side at 10:06. Just over a minute elapsed before Salve Regina evened the contest at 3-3. Rookie Sarah Markey (Ashland, Mass.) collected a rebound in the crease and pushed it past the netminder. Madryga and Porter would help create the opportunity.

The spurt was capped off at 12:01 as the Seahawks took the 4-3 lead on a goal by junior Sarah McCusker (Havertown, Pa.) as she wrapped around the goal with help from Sherlock.

Nichols would send the game into an extra session behind a goal from Manopla who knocked home a rebound in the midst of a crowd in front of the net. Murphy pitched in with the shot while Gerein helped with a pass.

Sophomore Francesca Palazzo (Bernardston, Mass.) halted 37 shots for the Bison including five in the overtime session. Seahawks junior Ali Muehlbronner (Glenside, Pa.) made four stops in the bonus five minutes and 32 for the game.

The Bison close out the regular season at Levy Rink next weekend beginning with Plymouth State at 7:40 p.m. on Friday. Senior Day will take place on Saturday prior to the 4:40 p.m. contest with Southern Maine. Salve Regina will spend the weekend in Vermont with a 4:00 p.m. appointment at Norwich on Friday and concludes the regular season at Saint Michael's on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.

Courtesy of Nichols Sports Information