KEENE, N.H. – Brianna Finke picked up right where she left off on Friday's night game when she scored two goals for the Keene State College women's ice hockey team as she scored the game-winning overtime goal on Saturday against The University of Vermont State Castleton Spartans, giving the Owls a crucial 2-1 win for their postseason hopes.

Records

• Keene State: 9-14-0 (6-10-0 LEC)
• Castleton 11-14-0 (7-11-0 LEC)

How it Happened


Neither team found the back of the net over the first 20 minutes of action as both teams played an even first period. Owls' goalie, Ai Chung, made three saves in net for the Owls over the first six minutes of action before KSC was called for their first penalty of the day 7:14 into the contest. Chung and the Owls' defense held strong over the two-minute advantage for the Spartans as she made a pair of saves to go with a blocked shot from one of the Owls' captains, Ava Iantosca as KSC killed the penalty off. The Spartans continued to apply the pressure as Chung made six saves over the next five minutes. In the final 5:15 of the first period, the Owls applied the pressure on the attack as Castleton's goaltender, Gianna McCusker made eight saves to send the contest to the second period scoreless.
 
The Owls opened the second period on the penalty kill after being called for a penalty with six seconds remaining in the first, but KSC killed it off with Chung making a pair of saves and the other Owls' captain, Grace Bazin, blocking two shots on defense. 30 seconds after the Owls killed off their penalty, Castleton was called for one of their own, but just like the last opportunity, KSC did not capitalize as the Spartans blocked a pair of shots and McCusker made a save to send the game back to 5-on-5. Both goaltenders pair a pair of saves apiece over the next few minutes as the contest reached the halfway point before the Owls were called for another penalty with 9:55 remaining in the second. Chung made a pair of saves in the opening 45 seconds of the power play for Castleton, but with 43 seconds remaining in the penalty kill for KSC, Iantosca was called for delay of game, giving the Spartans a 5-on-3 for the next 43 seconds. The Owls' defense anchored down over the next two minutes with freshman Loreli Norman and Emily Edmunds each blocking a shot, helping kill off the first of the two penalties. In the remaining 1:17 of the 5-on-4, Bazin and Kenzley Goode helped block a shot each as Chung made five saves and the Owls escaped the Spartans' opportunity without allowing a goal. With under five minutes remaining in the second, Castleton found the back of the net as Brooke Noble weaves through the Owls' defense and ripped a shot between the two faceoff dots that went over Chung's glove, off the crossbar, and in as she gave the Spartans the lead with 4:25 remaining in the second. 30 seconds after taking the lead, Castleton was called for another penalty, but the Spartans were on the attack, outshooting KSC 2-1 over the two-minute advantage for KSC. Castleton killed off the penalty shortly after and took their 1-0 lead into the second intermission.
 
After Chung made three saves in the opening minute of the third, she was called for a penalty 1:12 into the period as Castleton had their third power play of the day. Chung didn't allow for her penalty to cost the Owls as she made a pair of saves as the penalty was killed off. 5:07 into the third period Ellie Patrick broke her 11-game scoring drought as Emerson Spinale stole the puck in the offensive end and sent a pass to Patrick in front of the goal, who buried it. "I didn't even know what to do after scoring, it has been so long since I found the back of the net this year. I needed that." said Patrick postgame about tallying her fourth goal of the season after scoring eight as a freshman last year for the Owls. KSC looked to pull ahead shortly after Patrick's goal with another power play opportunity, but McCusker bounced back and saved all three shots from the Owls as the Spartans killed the penalty off, 7:41 into the third. Over the following three minutes Castleton was on the attack, but Chung held strong making six saves in goal to keep the contest tied heading into halfway through the final period of regulation. On the other side of the ice over the next seven minutes, the Owls pressured McCusker in goal, with six shots, but one three were on frame that she saved as the third period started to come to an end. With 2:16 remaining in the third, KSC was called for their sixth penalty of the day, but with the Owls' defense holding strong with three blocked shots, Chung did not have to make a save while KSC was on the penalty kill, leading to Castleton being called for a penalty of their own with 1:01 remaining in regulation. Neither team had a shot on goal in the closing minute of action as the Owls headed into the 3-on-3 overtime with an extra skater for the first 59 seconds of the extra five-minute period.
 
The Spartans killed off the remaining 59 seconds of their penalty without allowing a shot on goal form the Owls and shortly after, they were on the attack as Chung held her ground, making a pair of saves before Castleton was called for a hooking penalty with 1:48 remaining in the overtime period, sending the rest of the period to 4-on-3 favoring the Owls. Just as Chung did to open the overtime period, McCusker saved the first two shots that she saved, but she was unable to save the third as Brianna Finke played hero for the Owls again. After Patrick poked the puck loose on the defensive end, Loreli Norman sent a pass to Finke, who weaved through the Spartans' defense and after whiffing on the first attempt, she buried the second past McCusker to give the Owls the important two points for the Little East Conference Standings.
 
Inside the Crease

• Keene State picks up their first win in the all-time series between the two teams, moving to 1-4 against the Spartans.
• Chung had another 40-plus save day in net as she made 43 saves for the Owls, bringing her career-total to 936 career saves, while McCusker made 25 saves for the Spartans.
• Patrick recorded her third multipoint game of the season, with this time being the first where she had a goal and an assist, while the other two instances were a pair of assists.
• Finke tallied her third goal on the weekend with her overtime game-winner as she scored her third game-winner of the season and second overtime game-winner in the past month.
• KSC went 1-for-5 on the power play for the second consecutive day, while Castleton went 0-for-6 on the day after going 1-for-5 Friday.
• The Owls' defense helped out Chung on the day with 20 blocked shots, to just 12 from the Spartans with Goode and Bazin blocking four apiece and Caroline Demeo blocking three.
• Castleton had the advantage on faceoffs on the day as the Owls went 32-for-69 (46.4%) with Iantosca (17-for-34) and Patrick (9-for-18) both going 50% on the day for KSC.

 
Up Next
 
Owls return to the ice on the road this upcoming weekend with their last two games of the regular season at the University of Southern Maine with huge postseason implications on Friday, February 20, at 6:00 PM, and on Saturday, February 21, at 3:00 PM.
Castleton ends their 2025-2026 regular season with 23 points in the LEC standings, currently sitting in fourth place, four points ahead of the Owls.