PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The Providence College women's ice hockey team recorded a tie, 2-2, against non-conference opponent St. Cloud State University on Saturday afternoon at Schneider Arena. With the tie, the Friars overall record moved to 3-3-1 (2-0-0 Hockey East), while the Huskies move to a record of 2-4-1 (2-4-0 WCHA). Providence senior Nicole Anderson's (Jordan, Minn.) goal with 19.2 seconds left to play in the third period completed the Friars comeback to earn the tie.
After 20 minutes of play, the Friars found themselves in a two-goal deficit. St. Cloud State opened the scoring at 7:47 with a power play goal. Providence freshman goaltender Sarah Bryant (Bethleham, Pa.) made the initial save after a scramble in front of the net but Huskies forward Haylea Schmid was able to put the puck past her. Molli Mott added a goal with 6:44 remaining in the period to double her team's lead to 2-0.
The second period concluded with Huskies still leading the Friars, 2-0. Special teams played a role, as the Friars had a strong period, killing off two penalties. The Friars also generated some great opportunities on the man advantage to get on the board but could not capitalize and found themselves still trailing by two.
In the third period, the Friars staged a comeback, scoring a pair of goals. The first goal of the period was scored at 5:14 by sophomore Beth Hanrahan (Poolesville, Md.) after she fired a shot from the slot that beat Huskies goaltender Julie Friend. Emily Groth (Monona, Wisc.) slid a pass over to Hanrahan to set her up perfectly to record her first goal as well as her first point of the season.
With only 19.2 seconds left on the clock, Anderson managed to find a way to get the puck in the net to extend the game into overtime. The game tying goal came as a result of hard work with a crowd around the net by the Friars, who were skating with the net empty and an extra player on the ice.
After five minutes of overtime the score did not change as neither team could find a way to prevail. The Friars best opportunity to seal the victory came when freshman Molly Illikainen (Grand Rapids, Minn.), who was open in front of the net, had a great chance to tap the puck past Friend but could not contain the bouncing puck to successfully put it in the net.
Friars goaltender Bryant stopped 18 shots while St. Cloud netminder, Friend made 39 saves in the tie. Providence outshot the Huskies, 41-20.
Providence will host St. Cloud State at Schneider Arena tomorrow, October 28 at 1:00 p.m. to play the second half of their non-conference series.