Box Score

DUDLEY, Mass. – Junior Julia Mastrototaro (Holden, Mass.) recorded her first-career goal late in the third period as the Nichols College women's ice hockey team fell to UMass Boston 2-1 in Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Women's East action Friday evening at Levy Rink.

The Beacons (5-0-0, 3-0-0 ECAC East) got things going just 3:47 into the first period when senior Angela Dandreo (Swampscott, Mass.) fired a shot from the left point that deflected off of a Bison defenseman and into the net.

UMass Boston controlled the puck for much of the first period, outshooting the Nichols 13-4 for the period. Perhaps the best opportunity from the first stanza came by way of the Bison, however. Freshman Ariana Dembro (Saugus, Mass.) broke away from everyone and was sent away by senior Kailyn Burke (Franklin, Mass.) trying to go blocker side with 9:43 remaining in the period.

The Bison (2-4-0, 0-3-0 ECAC East) rebounded nicely finishing the second period matching the Beacons 9-9 in shots. Nichols again had the best opportunity of the period when freshman Emily Barden (Chatham, N.Y.) was stopped point-blank after firing a shot from the point with 11 minutes to go in the period.

"Their goalie played well. I don't believe we got the traffic in front of the net that we needed to," said Nichols head coach Wil Brown. "Unfortunately, by the time we did get traffic in front, there was seven seconds left and the goalie on the bench in the third."

Four minutes into the third period senior Grace Murphy (Montclair, Va.) skated around the net and passed the puck in front of the net to senior Talia Hohmann (Marina, Calif.) whose wide-open shot was turned away by Burke.

The game continued to be a display of defense through much of the third period until at 18:32 junior Samantha Fallon (Pembroke, Mass.) skated into the zone and let a shot go from the bottom right circle that again deflected off of a Bison defender and past senior goaltender Tori Gianformaggio (Huntington Beach, Calif.).

At 19:53 the Bison cut the lead in half when senior Murphy passed it from the right wing boards to senior Kerri Nadeau (Chepachet, R.I.) at the point. Nadeau fired a shot that was redirected by Mastrototaro and into the back of the net.

 The Beacons outshot the Bison 39-20 for the game including eight from Fallon. Murphy paced the Bison with six shots while senior Hohmann had four.

Gianformaggio made 37 saves and falls to 2-3-0 on the year. Burke improves to 3-0-0 on the year after her 19 save effort.

"I think we went out there and executed our game plan," said Brown. "We fought and batted. We understand that we're not necessarily going to win games 6-4 or 5-3. We're going to have to win a 2-1 game, and tonight we were on the wrong end."

The Bison return to action Saturday at 4:40 p.m. when they play host to conference foe Castleton. The Beacons travel to take on Manhattanville Saturday at 3:00 p.m.