ORONO, Maine -- The University of Maine women's hockey team ended the weekend series against Niagara University in a tie, 3-3. With the draw, the Black Bears now have a record of 7-5-2, while remaining at 2-3-1 in conference play after going 1-0-1 against Niagara. The Purple Eagles' record is now 6-6-3 overall, and still 0-0-0 in CHA play. Brittany Dougherty (Chesterfield, Maine) grabbed a goal while Tori Pasquariello (Mississagua, Ontario) scored two goals on the afternoon.
The scoring started in favor of Niagara on a power play goal by Kayla Raniwsky at 10:30 in the first period. Assisting her on the play was Kelsey Gunn, giving the Purple Eagles a 1-0 lead.
The score remained at 1-0 until 14:55 into the second period when Kelsey Welch nabbed a short-handed goal for Niagara from Leah Whittaker. This would give the Purple Eagles a 2-0 lead. Despite plenty of offense by both teams, thanks to solid defense the score would remain at 2-0 through two periods of play.
Brittany Dougherty got things rolling for the Black Bears after scoring her ninth goal of the season, cutting Niagara's lead in half, 2-1. Assisting her on the play was Myriam Croussette (Baie-Comeau, Quebec), her eighth of the season, and Brittney Huneke (Hastings, Minn.), her second. Ashley Norum (Fairbanks, Alaska) unleashed a shot from just inside the blue line that was blocked by a Niagara defender. Tori Pasquariello was there to grab the deflection and find the back of the net for the Black Bears, evening the score at 2-2 with just under five minutes to play. Norum earned her fourth assist of the season on the play while Pasquariello scored her third goal of the year. At 18:39, Pasquariello netted her second goal of the game and her fourth of the season after Brittney Huneke found Dominique Goutsis (Coquitlam, British Columbia) who then dished the puck to Pasquariello for the goal. Huneke was given her third assist of the season and second of the game while Goutsis got her fourth assist of the season. The Black Bears now had a 3-2 lead. With 14 seconds remaining in regulation and the Niagara goalie pulled, forward Kalli Funk found the back of the net for Niagara to bring the game to a 3-3 draw. Assisting her on the play was Kaleigh Chippy.
At the end of regulation, five minutes of overtime started. Both teams skated a solid five minutes of play, however at the end of overtime, the score was finalized at 3-3.
Maine net-minder Kylie Smith (Apple Valley, Minn.) stopped 21 of the 24 shots she faced through 65 minutes of play. With the draw, her record is now 2-1-1 on the season. Niagara goalie Sarah Moses made 33 saves on 36 shots, including a save on a penalty shot, giving her a record of 1-4-2 on the season. Maine was 0-for-6 on the power play while Niagara ended 1-for-5.
The Black Bears will host Brown for a two game series starting Friday, November 18 at 7 p.m.