Boston College Athletics
Women's Ice Hockey Loses to #6 Niagara
December 01, 2001 | Women's Hockey
Dec. 1, 2001
NIAGARA. N.Y.- The Boston College women's ice hockey team lost to #6 Niagara University, 4-3 in overtime, on Saturday at Dwyer Arena. Brooke Bradburn's goal 2:45 into the extra period completed a three-game sweep for Niagara over BC this season. With the loss, BC drops to 2-8-1 overall and 0-7-0 in the ECAC. The Purple Eagles improve to 11-2 overall and 8-1 in conference play. Senior Kelly McManus notched two assists and freshman goaltender Lisa Davis made 32 saves in the loss for the Eagles.
Having faced Niagara twice earlier in the season, head coach Tom Babson looked at the third match up of conference foes as a barometer of his young team's offensive development. Although the first two matches had been tightly contested (2-1 and 7-1 victories for Niagara), the Eagles aimed to break Niagara's tough defense this time around. Early on they did just that.
It took BC less than one and half minutes to take the lead, as freshman Kerri Sanders took a pass from Kaitlin McGrath and beat Niagara goaltender Tania Pinelli for the 1-0 lead at 1:21. For Sanders the goal marked her first of the season and the first of her young career. McGrath registered the only assist.
The Eagles would double their lead at the 5:58 mark, when senior Missy Barsz notched her team-leading fifth goal of the season. The assist was credited to McManus, her fifth of the season. BC used a strong trapping defense to shutdown any Purple Eagle challenge and the first period ended without any further scoring.
Niagara came out quickly in the second period, peppering Davis with shot after shot. Despite the home side's advantage early on, it was the Eagles who would score the first goal. Breaking out in a counter-attack, junior Thia Connolly gave BC a 3-0 lead at the 7:38 mark, taking a pass from McManus and beating Pinelli low. It was Connolly's fourth goal of the season and third in last two games.
Niagara would not go down, however, and continued to press the attack. At the 12:35, Stephanie Romain finally broke Davis' shutout bid, scoring a shorthanded, unassisted goal. The goal was the momentum shift that Niagara would need going into the final period. Shots for the second period were 17-4 in favor of Niagara, but BC still held a 3-1 lead.
The home team did not take long to cut the lead in half, only 23 seconds to be exact. Candice Ceelen took a pass from Valerie Hall and fired it past Davis. Hall and Barbara Prall registered the assists on the play.
Niagara would tie the score and set the stage for Bradburn's overtime heroics at the 6:28 mark. Valeria Hall found the back of the net on the powerplay. Assists went to Bradburn and Teresa Marchese-Del Monte.
For the match, Niagara out shot the Eagles 36-16. Davis registered 32 saves and Pinello made 13. Boston College went 0/5 on the powerplay and Niagara went 1/4.
The Eagles return to action on Tuesday, December 4 at Harvard University. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
