PROVIDENCE - The tenth-ranked Providence College women's ice hockey team scored two third period goals and outlasted New Hampshire, 4-2, Saturday at Schneider Arena. The win is the Friars' third in a row.
The game was knotted, 2-2, until 3:30 into the final period. Skating on the power play, freshman Corinne Buie (Edina, Minn.) and junior Kate Bacon (Chanhassen, Minn.) combined to win possession in the right corner. Bacon set up classmate Jen Friedman (San Gabriel, Calif.) who blasted a slapshot home from the left point. It was Friedman's third goal in as many games, and made the score 3-2 Providence.
Roughly two minutes later, Buie carried the length of the ice before centering the puck. Junior Laura Veharanta (La Verne, Calif.) collected and wristed a shot from the slot into the back of the net to round out the scoring, 4-2.
It was the Wildcats who had taken the initial lead, jumping on top at the 3:00 mark of the opening period. Senior winger Julie Allen one-timed a kick-out rebound from the right side of the slot for her third of the season and a 1-0, UNH edge.
There was an eruption of special team scores in the middle stanza. The Friars evened the game, 1-1, at the 8:40 mark of the second. While on a power play, Friar goalie Genevieve Lacasse (Scarborough, Ontario) caught the Wildcats on a line change and connected on a lengthy pass to Buie. The Freshman skated in on a 2-on-1 break, and fed a cutting Bacon. Bacon deposited her team-leading 13th goal of the season.
The Friars then took a 2-1 lead at 12:07 of the second by converting on their fourth shorthanded score of the year. Junior Ashley Cottrell broke up the play at her own blueline and streaked down ice on a breakaway. Cottrell slide the shot between the goalie's pads for her seventh of the Autumn.
UNH answered just 27 seconds later, however. Still enjoying the skater advantage, Allen picked up her second goal of the contest by skating down the middle of the ice with room and beating Lacasse to even the game, 2-2.
Buie finsihed the game with a season-best three assists, and Lacasse finished with 17 saves.
Before the game, the Friars donated a check to two organization, SOAR and Sojourner House, that work to prevent Domestic Violence and care for its victims. The team recently raised $540 for the cause through a raffle and other fundraising, including proceeds from its October 23 game against Princeton.
Providence returns to action tomorrow, December 5, when it welcomes Connecticut to Schneider Arena for a 2 p.m. face-off. Tickets are available by calling the PC ticket office at (401) 865 GO PC.