WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (January 24, 2025) – The Western New England women's ice hockey team fell behind 2-0 in the third period on Friday night before scoring two late goals, including one with seven seconds left by Maddie Pope, as Pope led the Golden Bears to a 2-2 tie with the Wildcats of Johnson & Wales University on Friday night. WNE would take the 1-0 victory in the shootout to earn the extra point in the standings.

Records:

·      Western New England: 10-6-1, 4-5-1 CNE

·      Johnson & Wales University: 7-8-2, 4-5-1 CNE

How it Happened:

Maddie Pope had the first shot of the game for the blue and gold as the first five minutes of the game saw little action between the Wildcats and Golden Bears, who meet for just the second time in program history and first since JWU entered the conference. Rachael Irving would make the start for Western New England and was forced to make saves seven minutes into the game as JWU's leading scorer Grace Adams would fire off back-to-back shots, testing Irving, though the WNE keeper would come up strong early. The Wildcats maintained possession of the puck in the offensive zone through the midway point of the first period before the Golden Bears would find their skating game and would test Katelyn Cardoso, who made the start in goal for Johnson & Wales. Valerie DuVal, Michaela Birmingham, and Julia Roman would come up with shots on goal for the hosts, though none found the back of the net. Western New England picked up the first power play chance of the game and would generate three shots during it, though they would not be able to find the back of the net as the two teams would combine for 17 shots in the frame, ten favoring Western New England, though neither team would put the puck in the net, as the score remained tied at zero after one period of play. Western New England picked up 24 total shots in the opening periods while the Wildcats put half their 14 shots on goal. The lone power play of the game in the first period belonged to the Golden Bears, who did not find the back of the net.

The Golden Bears were on the power play just 2:28 into the second period, in search of the all-important first goal of the game. Johnson & Wales would take the first shot on goal of the WNE power play but would not score. Michaela Birmingham and Ziya Damas would take shots on goal for WNE in the frame but would not come away with a goal as the chance for WNE would expire. In the fifth minute of the second period, Western New England's Rachael Irving would stand tall, making five straight saves to keep the Wildcats from scoring. The two teams would exchange shots on goal through the halfway point of the second period, with both Irving and Cardoso coming up big for their respective teams. Western New England would go on the power play for the second time in the period and would again put up two shots, neither finding the back of the net as Maddie Pope and Alana Bouthilette would come away with shots on goal. Following the end of the chance, Western New England would cough up the puck at the blue line, springing Kailin Kane in for a breakaway, who would cut to the middle of the crease and slide the puck just over the goal line with 3:42 remaining in the frame to give Johnson & Wales the 1-0 lead. The Wildcats would take their lead into the final frame of the game, a frame in which Western New England would need to show desperation in order to avoid their second straight CNE loss. JWU outshot Western New England 17-8 in the frame overall despite the Golden Bears taking 23 shots in total in the period.

Desperation they showed indeed in the third as the Golden Bears would begin pinching up on defense to cause chaos in front of the net. Despite their efforts, it would be the Wildcats to get the next goal of the game as Grace Adams came around the net and took a wrist shot from 15 feet in front of the goal that got past the glove of Rachael Irving, giving the Wildcats a 2-0 lead with just 13 minutes remaining in the third period. Through the midway point of the third period, JWU would be all over Western New England, though WNE would catch a break, getting their fourth power play chance of the night, and this time, would not miss their chance, scoring their first of the game. After Michaela Birmingham would move the puck from the blue line down low, the puck would hit the skate of Allison Walker and deflect to Alexa Paoli, who roofed home WNE's first goal of the game and her first goal of the season, cutting Johnson & Wales's lead in half with 9:09 to play in the third period. Johnson and Wales would record their final shot on goal of the third period with 6:27 left to play as WNE would dominate the offense, awaiting a game-tying goal. Western New England would pull their goalie with 1:50 remaining in the third, looking for the equalizer. Alyssa Murphy would get three opportunities in a row with three different results: a shot wide, a blocked shot, and a shot that was saved. Murphy's fourth chance of the sequence would be a save for JWU's Katelyn Cardoso. The puck would rebound off Cardoso to teammate Ashlyn Libby, who would nearly shoot the puck 200 feet down the ice and into the open goal, though a post shot would save WNE's chances at a comeback. Western New England would quickly move up the ice with Alexa Paoli taking a shot on goal that would hit the skate of Allison Walker and bounce to Maddie Pope, who would shovel a shot on goal and jam at the puck and score to tie the game at two with exactly seven seconds remaining in the period. The Golden Bears would force overtime on Pope's fifth goal of the season.

The two teams would battle in overtime as Western New England held possession of the puck for the first two minutes of play, taking three shots. JWU would turn the tides on Western New England in the OT session quickly, getting four shots on goal in just over a minute span, though Irving would stand tall as she has all season long for the blue and gold, keeping the Wildcats from scoring. JWU would end up outshooting the Golden Bears 7-1 in the OT frame, but neither team would find the back of the net, forcing a shootout. In the best of three shootout, Irving would make the first two saves on the Wildcats while it would be Maddie Pope again, the hero, scoring for Western New England in the shootout. Iriving would make one final save on Ashlyn Libby, sending the Golden Bears to the victory in the shootout, tying 2-2 on the scoreboard overall with the Wildcats in a wild Friday night conference game.

Inside the Lines:

·      Third period goals from Alexa Paoli and Maddie Pope loomed large in WNE's comeback on Friday night, earning two points over Johnson & Wales University and picking up the shootout win.

·      Rachael Irving made 37 saves on the night for WNE, picking up seven in the overtime session to allow WNE to win the shootout.

·      Allison Walker picked up two assists on the night while going 11/20 in the faceoff circle.

·      JWU blocked 21 shots on the night, led by Reese Middendorf, who had eight total blocks.

·      In the second meeting of all time, this is the second time in which the two teams have settled for a tie.

Up Next on the Schedule:

·      The Golden Bears will meet Johnson & Wales at Lynch Arena on Saturday, January 25, at 5:15 PM in a CNE rematch.