MIDDLEBURY. Vt. -- Justina Germano scored 10 minutes into overtime to give Connecticut College (10-11-3) a 2-1 victory against top-seeded and fourth-ranked Middlebury in a NESCAC quarterfinal game in Kenyon Arena. The Camels advance to next weekend's semifinal round, while the Panthers (17-4-4) will hope for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament when the pairings are announced on March 10.
The game winner came when Germano won a faceoff to Shelley Moore in the corner. Moore skated to the left dot and snapped a shot that Germano tipped past Jones for the game-winner, her third tally of the year.
Connecticut College jumped on the board first, finding the back of the net 6:10 into the contest. After a flurry of offensive pressure, the Camels broke through when Ashley Anctil scored on a rebound after a shot from the left point by Stephanie Izzi was saved. The goal was the eighth of the season for Anctil.
Middlebury tied the game 31 seconds into the second period with the third of the year from Madeline Joyce. Jennifer Krakower made a pass ahead up the board to Pam Schulman on the right side. Schulman gathered the puck and centered it to Joyce for the quick one-timer in the slot.
No. 3 Norwich 2, Massachusetts-Boston 1 (OT)
NORTHFIELD, Vt. – Senior forward Tori Charron scored 6:20 into overtime to lift top-seeded Norwich to a 2-1 victory against Massachusetts-Boston on Saturday night at Kreitzberg Arena in Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) East tournament semifinal action.
Senior defenseman Kayla Parsons sprung Charron on a breakaway with a perfect pass from her own blue line that allowed the Cadets' leading scorer in alone with UMass-Boston goalie Moe Bradley. Charron skated in and deked on her forehand before rolling her wrists over and sliding the puck behind an outstretched Bradley on her backhand for her 25th goal of the season.
Norwich (24-3-0) now advances to its sixth consecutive ECAC East tournament championship game with the victory and will meet either Castleton State or Salve Regina in the other semifinal.
After a scoreless first period, Norwich took a 1-0 lead at the 8:01 mark of the second stanza when Charron scored her first of the night and 100th goal of her collegiate career spanning two seasons at Elmira and two at Norwich.
UMass-Boston continued to apply pressure and the Beacons were finally rewarded at the 18:16 mark of the third period when Samantha Fallon beat Norwich junior goalie Taylor Fairchild with a quick shot along the ice that trickled through the Cadet goalie's pads for her team-leading 16th goal of the season.
No. 5 Wisconsin-River Falls 6, Wisconsin-Eau Claire 1
RIVER FALLS, Wis. -- Wisconsin-River Falls won 6-1 on Saturday, afternoon to sweep the Wisconsin-Eau Claire Blugolds in the WIAC semifinals and advance to the O'Brien Cup championship game.
In another dominate performance UWRF attempted 46 shots on goal compared to just eight for UWEC. Alice Cranston led the Falcons with two goals in the game.
After not scoring on Friday, the Blugolds wasted no time on Saturday, scoring at 5:16 of the first period when Tory Heller got one past Falcon single-season shutout record holder Ashley Kuechle. Kuechle finished the game with seven saves not allowing another goal.
UWRF quickly responded 5:57 into the first period when Brook Story scored her eighth goal of the season assisted by Chloe Kinsel for her 12th assist this season.
At 11:34 of the first period a rebound went right out in front of the net and Cranston was able to capitalize to score the goal. Dani Sibley was credited with the assist on the play for her seventh this season.
UWEC was able to stay in reach throughout the second period before Crysta Lowell lit the lamp 15:27 into the second period to give UWRF the two-goal lead.
Emily Stark scored an unassisted goal just 5:07 into third period for her third of the season.
The Falcons were able to pull away even more the rest of the period due to the Blugolds committing a lot of penalties. They committed 11 penalties for 25 minutes compared to UWRF committing six for 12 minutes.
No. 6 Wisconsin-Stevens Point 1, Wisconsin-Superior 0
STEVENS POINT, Wis. -- Megan Menotti scored late and Janna Beilke-Skoug made 21 saves as Wisconsin-Stevens Point advanced to the inaugural Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) championship game with a 1-0 victory against Wisconsin-Superior in game two of the semifinal series on Saturday night at Ice Hawks Arena.
UW-Stevens Point (19-4-4) needed just a tie against UW-Superior (14-7-6) to win the semifinal series after winning the opener 2-1 on Friday night. After 59:11 of scoreless hockey, Menotti scored her fifth goal of the season unassisted on the power play with 49 seconds remaining.
The win sends the Pointers to the inaugural WIAC championship game against Wisconsin-River Falls. UWSP will travel to River Falls for the title game on Saturday, March 8. UW-Stevens Point was 2-1-1 against UW-River Falls in the regular season.
Beilke-Skoug made 10 of her 21 saves in the third period and recorded her fourth shutout of the season.
The Pointers capitalized on their fifth power play of the game and had 15 shots with the extra skater. UW-Superior was 0-for-2 on the power play in the game with four shots.
No. 7 St. Thomas (Minn.) 4, Concordia (Minn.) 3
MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. -- Freshman Hannah Bird scored the game winner 8:27 into sudden-death overtime as No. 7-ranked St. Thomas (18-5-3) outlasted Concordia (Minn.) (13-10-4) in Saturday's MIAC women's hockey playoff semifinal game in Mendota Heights.
Madison Denny stopped 47 shots for the Cobbers. Alise Riedel had 15 saves for UST. Top-seed St. Thomas advances to the March 8 championship game on home ice against second-seed Gustavus Adolphus, a 3-2 winner against Bethel.
Maria Bothwell, Jenny Saxon and Paige Baldwin scored the first three goals for UST.
No. 8 Gustavus Adolphus 3, Bethel (Minn.) 2
ST. PETER, Minn. -- Gustavus Adolphus advanced to the MIAC Playoff Championship following a 3-2 win against Bethel in an MIAC Semifinal match up on Saturday afternoon at Don Roberts Ice Rink. After falling behind 2-1 early in the third period, the Gusties came back to score a pair of unanswered goals in the final 13 minutes of the win.
With the win, Gustavus improves to 17-7-2 on the season and advances to the MIAC Playoff Championship. The Gusties will travel to Mendota Heights, Minn., to take on top-seeded St. Thomas next Saturday afternoon at the St. Thomas Ice Arena. Meanwhile, Bethel finishes its season with a 17-7-2 record.
For the game, Gustavus outshot Bethel 26-18, thanks in large part to a 13-6 advantage in the third period. Each team was held scoreless on the power play in four chances. The Gusties recorded seven shots on those opportunities, compared to just two shots for the Royals.
In net, Amanda Koep was awarded the win after allowing two goals and making 16 saves for Gustavus. Erika Allen suffered the loss, giving up all three goals in a 23-save effort for the Royals.
