Box Score

HARRISVILLE, R.I. - Mass. – Junior Kerri Nadeau (Chepachet, R.I.) broke a scoreless tie with her first goal of the season 2:37 into the third period and classmate Tori Gianformaggio (Huntington Beach, Calif.) stopped all 40 shots she faced as the Nichols College women's ice team blanked Plymouth State University 3-0 Saturday afternoon in Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Women's East action at Levy Rink.

Juniors Talia Hohmann (Marian, Calif.) and Grace Murphy (Montclair, Va.) added insurance goals for the Bison (1-4-0, 1-3-0 ECACE), who gave first-year head coach Wil Brown his first win as a collegiate head coach. Senior Ali Ponte (Richmond Hill, Ontario) recorded 22 saves for the Panthers (2-5-0, 1-4-0 ECACE).

The Panthers outshot the Bison 27-15 over the first two periods of action, but the better scoring chances came from Nichols – including four 2-on-1's which it couldn't capitalize on. Finally, the Bison snapped their scoreless drought which spanned two-and-a-half games at 141:02 when Nadeau's shot from the left point struck the left post and trickled in. Senior captain Megan Gerein (Dubuque, Iowa) – twice denied on 2-on-1 opportunities earlier in the game – picked up the lone assist.

Less than five minutes later, Hohmann made the score 2-0 with a breakaway goal. She skated in from the blue line, skated around a defender, brought the puck to her forehand and sniped a wrist shot over the glove hand of Ponte for her first of the season at 6:34. Sophomore Erin Dice (Ashburn, Va.) and junior Alyssa Bufis (Linden, N.J.) were credited with assists. Murphy sealed the win with an empty-netter with 1:04 remaining in the third off a feed from junior Taylor Brown (Winthrop, Mass.).

"One of the things our coaching staff has tried to instill in our student-athletes this year is that nothing comes easy, and today's win is no exception," said Brown. "It took a 60 minute effort and a solid belief in what we were doing to break through. We entered today with two goals on the season, but that doesn't mean those were the only two scoring opportunities we've had all season. Pucks just weren't going in for us. When we finally got a bounce on Kerri's goal – which wasn't a rocket of a shot by any means – that was all we needed. Then Talia picked a corner and Grace got the empty netter, which we hope will get her going."

Each team went scoreless in three power-play opportunities. The Panthers closed the night with a 40-25 edge in shots, perhaps the best of which was a rebound attempt in the second period off the stick of senior Stephanie Newmark (Sydney, Australia)  that Gianformaggio got a piece of with her glove hand. She led the Panthers with six shots.

Nichols returns to action on December 3 with a 7:30 p.m. contest at Trinity (CT). Plymouth State hosts UNE Thursday, December 5 at 7 p.m.