BIDDEFORD, Maine – After a scoreless first period, the two goals let up by the Keene State College women's ice hockey team in the second period proved to be the difference in the contest, as the Owls fell 3-1 to the University of New England on Saturday afternoon.

Records

• Keene State: 13-11-0
• University of New England: 10-10-1

How it Happened


Following a save in net by Nor'easters' goaltender, Kaleigh Laurendeau, on Ellie Patrick in the first minute to open the contest, UNE was on the attack for the following minute of play. Over the time span, UNE recorded six shots on goal that Ai Chung saved for the Owls, to go with a blocked shot from Olivia Pollard and Mallory Stuart, while the Owls were unable to get a shot on target of their own over the 10 minutes. Both teams traded a shot on goal that was saved and a blocked shot over the next six minutes, as the Owls were awarded their first power play opportunity of the game with 1:53 remaining in the first. KSC was unable to capitalize on the extra-skater advantage in the period, as Laurendeau saved both shots on frame to keep the contest tied 0-0 heading into the second.
 
UNE killed off the last few seconds of the power play to start the second period, as Laurendeau was forced to make three saves in goal in the opening 3:04. In the following two minutes, KSC was on the defense for much of the time, with Chung stopping four shots on goal. 6:14 into the second, KSC opened the scoring as Ava Iantosca sent a pass over to Brianna Finke, who passed it right back to Iantosca between the faceoff circles and ripped a shot over the shoulder of Laurendeau for her team-leading 14th goal of the season. The next minute, KSC tried to add on another goal, but Laurendeau saved both shots from captain Haylee Owen, as UNE then called a timeout to regroup. Both teams traded three shots on goal that were saved over the next eight minutes, but with under five minutes remaining in the period, following two more saves in goal by Chung, the rebound bounced right to Jamie DuPont, who tied the game up at one apiece with 4:03 remaining. KSC tried to respond right back but following two saves from Laurendeau over the next minute, UNE tacked on another goal with 2:27 remaining. Julia Weiner was left alone in front of the goal, and she was able to find an opening past Chung for her first career collegiate goal. The rest of the period, the Owl were unable to get a shot on target, as Chung made four more saves in net to limit the Nor'easters' lead to 2-1 heading into the final 20 minutes of regulation.
 
The Owls opened the third trying to tie the game up at two, but Laurendeau made three saves in nine seconds to preserve the UNE lead for the moment. KSC went 6-for-8 (75%) on faceoffs to open the first 11 minutes of the third, as they continued to try to tie the game up, but Laurendeau made four more saves to keep the Nor'easters ahead. 14:04 into the third, both teams were called for a penalty, leading to 4-on-4 play and UNE capitalized on the opportunity just 30 seconds later, as Hannah Humes sent a shot on frame as she was falling to the ice, which made it past Chung to put UNE up 3-1 with 5:56 remaining. One second after the two teams killed off their penalties, UNE was called for another penalty with 4:25 remaining in the period. KSC was only able to get one shot on target with the skater advantage, as 46 seconds into the penalty, KSC was called for one of their own penalties. Both teams traded shots on goal over the 4-on-4 play, as UNE killed their penalty off. In the final two minutes, Chung made two more saves as KSC was unable to mount the comeback with an empty net for the final 1:03 of play, as UNE held on for a 3-1 win in the end. 
 
Inside the Crease

• Chung made 27 saves in net for the Owls, while Laurendeau made 23 saves in net for UNE.
• Both teams went 24-for-48 on faceoffs, with Iantosca leading the Owls once again by going 12-for-14 (85.7%).
• The Owls defense helped Chung in net by blocking 11 shots. Stuart and Grace Bazin both tied a game-high of three blocked shots apiece, while Caroline Demeo also blocked a pair of shots for KSC.
• Finke recorded an assist on Iantosca's goal for her team-leading 14th of the season, while Madison Mosca also picked up an assist for her sixth, tied for the fifth most on the team.

Up Next
The Owls will wrap up their inaugural season on Friday, February 21, at 7:00 PM as they will travel to take on Curry College.
UNE returns to Conference New England play in their next contest, as they host Johnson and Wales University on Friday, February 14, at 7:00 PM for their next game.