BOSTON, Mass.—Senior Casey Schaejbe (Arlington, Mass.) made 30 saves and Kayla Smith (Woburn, Mass.) scored the game-winning goal against her former team, to help UMass Boston women's hockey earn a 3-1 win on Senior Day.
THE BASICS
UMass Boston 3, Salve Regina University 1
(UMass Boston 11-10, New England Hockey Conference 9-4)
(Salve Regina 7-11-2, New England Hockey Conference 5-6-1)
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Beacons scored twice in the second period and found the net one minute and 35 seconds after Salve Regina University scored their lone goal, to cruise to a 3-1 victory.
UMass Boston honored seniors Alexandrea Kreuser (Boston, Mass.), Alexandra Karlis (Denver, Colo.), Alexa Cappione (Massena, N.Y.), Jenny Currie (Chelmsford, Mass.) and Schaejbe before the contest. The group came out and helped the Beacons take another step towards helping to ensure this year's team's chances at hosting at least a first round NEHC playoff game.
Smith and sophomores Kristen Embrey (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) and Alli Bianchini (Detroit, Mich.) all scored in the win for the Beacons. The victory marked their second-straight against the Seahawks, after Salve had won six in a row against UMass Boston.
Lizzie Aveson (West Covina, Calif.), Currie and Cappione all picked up assists in the win.
In net, Schaejbe earned her first action since December 8 and put together a strong showing, as she stopped 30 of 31 shots. The senior stopped the first 23 shots she faced and improved to 2-4-0 on the year with the win.
Salve Regina's Shelby Johnson (Sterling, Mass.) recorded the lone goal of the day for the Seahawks, who dropped their fourth game in their past five contests.
Junior goalie Colleen Marcik (Madison, Conn.) made 29 saves on 32 shots to take the loss.
After an even first period in which UMass Boston held a slight 9-8 edge in shots, the Beacons dominated the second stanza.
Just 38 seconds into the second, UMass Boston grabbed a 1-0 lead thanks to a perfectly executed 2-on-1 between Currie and Embrey. Currie held on to the puck for as long as she could, before firing a pass across for Embrey, who slid it home for a 1-0 advantage.
The Beacons doubled their lead with just 2:14 left in the period, with their second short-handed goal of the year. Cappione sent an outlet pass to Aveson and Aveson skated into the zone on another 2-on-1. Aveson skated out wide on the near side and then slid a pass in front to Smith, who tapped it through Marcik's five-hole for a 2-0 advantage at 17:46.
Johnson gave Salve Regina momentary life midway through the third period, when the senior beat Schaejbe with a high wrister glove side. Sophomore defenseman Meredith Peppes picked up an assist on the play.
Bianchini answered back 1:35 later, to give UMass Boston a two-goal cushion right back. The sophomore created a turnover in the Salve zone and skated in one-on-one with the goalie from the far side, before lifting a forehand off the underside of the crossbar and in for her first goal of the season.
Salve Regina recorded seven shots the rest of the way and had one power-play opportunity, but couldn't solve Schaejbe and the Beacons' defense.
BY THE NUMBERS
- UMass Boston earned a 32-31 advantage in shots and a 25-17 edge in face-offs.
- The Beacons had a strong showing on special teams as well, as they held Salve Regina to an 0-for-5 day on the power-play, while finishing 0-for-3 on their own end.
- Cappione, Smith and sophomore Katie Jeter (Winthrop, Mass.) all finished +2 in the win.
- With the win, UMass Boston improved to 14-12-1 all-time against the Seahawks.
WHO'S NEXT
UMass Boston will finish out the season with four road conference games. The Beacons will likely return to action this Wednesday, when they travel to Nichols College at a time to be announced to make-up their postponed game from Friday. The Seahawks will take on Plymouth State in a make-up game this Tuesday February 9 at 6 p.m.
