Box Score

HARRISVILLE, R.I. – Senior captain Grace Murphy (Montclair, Va.) collected a goal and two assists to lift the Nichols College women's ice hockey team to a 3-1 win over the University of New England in Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Women's East action Friday night at Levy Rink.

Sophomore Kelly Downey (Waltham, Mass.) scored her first collegiate goal while senior Alyssa Bufis (Linden, N.J.) recorded a goal and an assist for the Bison, who moved to 5-10-0 on the season and 2-6-0 in the conference. Sophomore Mary Wirth (South Elgin, Ill.) potted her third goal of the season for the Nor'easters (4-10-3, 1-7-1 ECAC Women's East).   

With the game tied at one in the third period, senior netminder Tori Gianformaggio (Huntington Beach, Calif.) denied sophomore Shannon Smith (Naperville, Ill.) from the right circle on a 2-on-0 break. Minutes later, Nichols went on a 5-on-3 power play for 57 seconds. Head coach Wil Brown called timeout before the PP started, and 11 seconds later, the Bison grabbed a 2-1 lead. Bufis started the play with a pass to senior Kerri Nadeau (Chepachet, R.I.) at the right point. Nadeau then slid a cross-ice pass to Murphy for the back-door one-time shot at the left post.

With time winding down in the third and Nichols still holding a 2-1 lead, Bufis potted her fifth marker to seal the win. She collected a pass from Murphy and beat sophomore Sydney Helmbrecht (Grand Rapids, Mich.) over the glove hand with a wrist shot at 17:32.

"When the third period began, I definitely thought we were the better conditioned team on the ice, which is a tribute to our training staff at Nichols," said Brown. "I called the timeout because the line we wanted out had been on the ice for one minute, and when we received the two-man advantage, I thought we needed to regroup. We changed up our power-play unit at the end of November and it's nice to see it paying off a little bit."

Nichols had a pair of quality scoring chances in the first before the Nor'easters grabbed the lead. Senior captain Taylor Brown (Winthrop, Mass.) carried the puck down the left wing on an odd-man rush, but her shot was snagged out of the air by the glove of Helmbrecht. On the ensuring face-off, senior Jordan Fencl (Amana, Iowa) was stopped on a one-time attempt at the left post.

Later in the period, the Nor'easters capitalized on the first power play opportunity for either side. Junior Shannon Reynolds (Belmont, Mass.) held the puck along the left wing boards before sliding a pass to Wirth at the top of the slot. Wirth let go of a wrist shot that found its way through a screen and over the shoulder of Gianformaggio at 16:34.

Murphy nearly evened the score early in the second when she used a toe-drag move to pull the puck around a defender, but Helmbrech was there to turn the puck aside. Minutes later, a scramble ensued in front of the net and Downey knocked the puck through the five-hole of Helmbrech while on her back at 6:47. Murphy and senior Taylor Brown (Winthrop, Mass.) were credited with assists on the goal.

"It was a scramble play and Kelly prides herself in being at the right place at the right time," added Brown. "We are all very happy for her to get her first goal."

The Nor'easters received a 5-on-3 PP for 50 seconds late in the second period, but both shots on goal were stopped by Gianformaggio. Nichols outshot UNE 12-7 in the second stanza and held a 20-16 edge in shots after two periods of play. It finished the contest with a 30-28 edge in that category.

Gianformaggio stopped 27 of 28 shots to earn her fourth win of the season. Helmbrecht made 27 saves and slipped to 1-5-2.

The Bison play at Wesleyan (CT) Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Nor'easters host Southern Maine next Friday at 4 p.m.