Box Score

HENNIKER, N.H.—Senior Grace Murphy (Montclair, Va.) netted the game-winning goal with just 30 seconds remaining in overtime to lift the Nichols College Bison to a 3-2 overtime win against the Pilgrims of New England College on Friday afternoon in ECAC East action.

The win boosts the Bison to 6-10-0 and 2-6-0 in ECAC East action while the Pilgrims fall to 1-16-1 overall and 1-8-1 in league play.

With under a minute to play, Murphy took the puck off of an NEC skater in the Bison defensive end, and carried it through the neutral zone to the net, where she bested NEC goaltender Lauren Hopps (Green Bay, Wisc.) to seal the win.

The goal snapped a scoring draught for both teams that spanned nearly 28 minutes and included the entire third period.

NEC held a 2-0 lead after the first period following goals by junior Annie Griswold (Alexandria Bay, N.Y.) and freshman Amanda McGoldrick (Natick, Mass.). Griswold scored just 3:21 into the game and was assisted by Morgan Braniff (Tustin, Calif.) and Mackenzie Meegan (Phoenix, Ariz.).

Eight minutes later, McGoldrick scored on the power play, fed by Megan Servaes (Houston, Texas) and Meegan.

The Bison evened the score in the second period. Senior Alyssa Bufis (Linden, N.J.) netted Nichols' first goal 6:45 into the period. At the 14:46 mark, senior Samantha Vicari (Wayne, N.J.) netted a short-handed goal to even the score at 2-2.

The Bison held a 10-8 shots advantage in the third frame, but neither team was able to poke the puck into the net and the game went into overtime.

Senior Tori Gianformaggio (Huntington Beach, Calif.) tallied 33 saves in the win and made three saves in overtime. Hopps finished the game with 35 saves, including 13 in each of the first two periods. Both teams finished 1-for-4 on power play opportunities.

The Bison host Manhattanville on Saturday at 4:40 p.m. NEC returns to action tomorrow in a 1:00 p.m. game against the University of Southern Maine. 

(Contributions from New England College Sports Information)