WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (January 31, 2025) – Two goals from Mabel Gerard lifted the Western New England women's ice hockey team on Friday night from the Olympia Ice Center in their yearly Hockey Fights Cancer Night as the Golden Bears would defeat Curry College by a final score of 3-2 in overtime.

Records:

·      Western New England: 11-7-1, 5-6-1 CNE

·      Curry College: 5-12-1, 4-8 CNE

How it Happened:

The Colonels started the game on time and registered the first eight shots on goal in the game, while Western New England had just one shot from Allison Walker in the first five minutes of the game that was blocked. The Golden Bears were looking to get their revenge on the Colonels, who defeated the blue and gold earlier this month on the road, though Curry started off with the first goal of the game, a shot that was tipped and snuck by Rachael Irving, WNE's starting goalie. After Hannah Berkowitz took a pass, Curry's defender would rim the puck around the goal, picked up by Anna Kahl at the point. Kahl's wrist shot would be tipped in front of the goal by Tommi Nash, who picked up her third goal of the season, giving the Colonels the early 1-0 lead. Western New England began to find their skating game and would test Coriann Hoag, who made the start for the Colonels in the game. Walker, Ziya Damas, and Emma Birmingham would get shots towards the goal, all within a minute of each other, though they would not be able to find the back of the net. Western New England had the first power play of the game after the Colonels were given a slashing minor, though the blue and gold would not be able to take advantage of the chance, putting up two shots on goal, one from Jenna Lynch and the other from Brie Dube. Despite the chance, Western New England would be held scoreless. Curry would build some momentum following their penalty kill that led into the end of the first period as Curry took five shots in the final three minutes of the first period but would not score as the visitors would pick up a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes of play. The Colonels had the better of the chances in the first period, taking 14 shots on goal to WNE's five. Irving came up with 11 first-period saves for the Golden Bears.

The Golden Bears wasted little time in the second period to come away with the tying goal in the game as Mabel Gerard would score her team-leading eighth goal of the season. Ziya Damas would take a shot that would go wide of the net while Emma Birmingham would find the puck and send it towards the goal, and the shot would be tipped by Gerard in front of the net, which would even the score at one. Curry would blast off for the next three minutes of game action, taking six shots,  five of which came on goal, though Rachael Irving would stand tall for the home team, keeping Curry from scoring. Curry's momentum would be shaken as the Golden Bears would grab their second power play of the game, though they would generate just a single shot from Alexa Paoli, not able to take advantage of the chance. Just 1:10 after the power play expired, WNE would be called for a holding minor. Curry would take five total shots on their power play chance, their first of the game, and put up two shots on goal, both saved by Irving. WNE would be back on the power play with five minutes and change remaining in the period and would come up with four shots on goal on the chance, none of which would find the back of the net. Alyssa Murphy picked up two shots on goal on the power play while Jenna Lynch and Zoe Galanoudis also had chances for WNE, all turned aside by Curry's Hoag. Both teams had one final shot in the final 1:30 of the second period but did not come up with a goal as the period would end with a 1-1 score. Western New England found their offense in the second period, scoring the only goal and picking up 12 shots on goal, while Curry recorded ten total shots on goal.

The Golden Bears picked up the first three shots to open the first minute of the third period as Michaela Birmingham, Alana Bouthillette, and Jenna Lynch all picked up shots. Curry had the next three shots in the next minutes, none of which made it to the net. The two teams would exchange shots for shots through the first six minutes of the third period. Neither team would be able to come up with a goal as the fast-moving third period would go by without a goal until the Colonels were given their second power play of the game and would not make a mistake with it as Megan Swatzky would get a shot past Rachael Irving from her knees to give the Colonels the 2-1 lead on the power play. Anna Kahl would take a shot that would go over the net and would be collected behind the net by Margot Oxman, who would take the puck and get a shot on goal that would be turned aside by Irving, though a big rebound in front of the goal would find the stick of Swatzky, who gave the Colonels their second lead of the game. Curry's lead would last less than two minutes before Western New England would come up with the tying goal in the game with 3:22 to play in the period. Zoe Galanoudis would take a shot that would go wide while the puck would be tracked down by Allison Walker in the corner. Walker would take the puck to the danger zone and take a shot that would be saved by Hoag, while a rebound would come to Jenna Lynch, who batted a backhand shot into the bottom right corner of the net for her sixth goal of the season, tying the game at two. Less than two minutes following the WNE goal, the Golden Bears would get another power play as Curry would be called for tripping with 1:40 remaining in the third period. The Golden Bears would get two shots on the power play while Curry had a shorthanded bid denied by Irving. With just two seconds to play in the third period, Western New England would draw another penalty on Curry, going on a 5-on-3 for the final two seconds of the frame, and the penalties would carry over into the overtime session. The third period brought plenty of excitement, as both teams picked up nine shots on goal. The two teams were even in the faceoff circle in the 60 minutes of play, each going 22/44.

In the overtime period, it would take Western New England just 41 seconds to come up with the game-winning goal to pick up the 3-2 win on the night. WNE would not be able to score on the 5-on-3 chance, though they were able to dig the puck out of the corner on the 5-on-4, sending the rubber to the defense, where Alexa Paoli passed the puck to her defense partner Michaela Birmingham. Birmingham would take a shot that would be tipped down in front of the net by Mabel Gerard, whose shot got past Coriann Hoag, giving Western New England the 3-2 win on Hockey Fights Cancer Night.

Inside the Lines:

·      Mabel Gerard was Friday night's hero, scoring two goals, including the game winner to push Western New England past Curry for the first time this season.

·      Jenna Lynch had the game-tying goal with 3:22 to play in the third period to force overtime in the win, her seventh tally of the year.

·      Zoe Galanoudis, Michaela Birmingham, Ziya Damas, Emma Birmingham, Alexa Paoli, and Allison Walker all picked up assists in the win for WNE.

·      Western New England finished the night on top in the faceoff department, going 23/45.

·      Rachael Irving made 31 saves in the win. The Auburn, New Hampshire native has given up two goals or less in nine of ten appearances this season and improves to 6-1-1 on the year.

·      The Golden Bears were just 1/5 on the power play on the night, though the one was the game-winning goal in the game.

·      Western New England improves to 6-2-4 all-time against Curry.

Up Next on the Schedule:

·      The two teams will meet on Saturday, February 1, at 3:00 PM from Canton Ice House for their final meeting this regular season.