WORCESTER, Mass. - The Holy Cross women's ice hockey team hosted Brown for their season opener and game two the two-game series. The Bears scored in the first period for the 1-0 lead but Holy Cross answered back in the third to send the game to a fourth straight overtime. The Crusaders came out on top with a 2-1 overtime win.
Brown kicked things off scoring towards the end of the first period after both teams battled to get on the board first. Neither team managed a goal in the second period.
Entering into the third period, the Crusaders were still down by one goal with time ticking down. Holy Cross pulled their goalie with three minutes left in regulation. With the extra skater advantage senior forward Millie Sirum was able to score after the puck rebounded at 18:17. She was assisted by sophomore forwards Alexia Moreau and Alexis Perry. Time expired and the Crusaders headed into their fourth straight overtime game. After falling short the previous night in a 3-2 overtime loss to Brown, Holy Cross was hungry for the win. At the 2:40, Sirum struck again burying the game winner in the back of the net. She was assisted by Moreau and sophomore defenseman Casey Borgiel. Holy Cross took home its first win of the season 2-1 in overtime.
"Really good start to the first period. Then in the second period, we just chatted about making sure we're getting in front of the net a little bit more. These kids don't quit ever. They have a lot of fun and they work their butts off," said head coach Katie Lachapelle. "Millie was doing a good job of getting herself right in front of the net for those two rebound goals which was huge. I know she'll be proud of herself because that's something I know that she's been working on. Maddie Beck also did a great job, especially in that second period, really just kept us in it. So we're really happy that we got a win here in another overtime. Just an unbelievable team effort."
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Brown struck first scoring at 15:38 in the first period
- Neither team scored in the second period
- In the third period, Sirum equalized at 18:17 assisted by Moreau and Perry
- Holy Cross took the 2-1 OT win with Sirum scoring at 2:40 assisted by Moreau and Borgiel
- Brown led Holy Cross 52-44 in shot attempts
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
- Sirum scored both goals in the game for her third of the season
- Moreau assisted on both scoring plays for her fourth assist on the year
- Madison Beck made 23 saves to 52 shots faced on the day.
PLAYER QUOTES:
"Overall, I think it was a good game. We really brought it out at the end there and we really needed that OT win. It's been the fourth OT in the past week, so I'm really proud of the girls for bringing the energy towards the end there. It's a great feeling going into the hockey east season with a win." #20 Millie Sirum
"I thought we had a really good start of the game and then we had a little slump, but coming back from behind 1-0. We knew we wanted to win that. I was very excited. My linemate put two in and it's the most amazing feeling. Great start to this season. We just want to keep on winning and keep going for the next game against BC." #11 Alexia Moreau
"We don't play Brown often, so it's always fun playing a conference game. You don't know much about them, so it's just so fun going into the matchup. Last game we were down 3-1 in the third period. We all looked at each other on the bench and said, 'all right, let's rally together'. Alexis scored two great goals and we were able to tie it and then obviously we lost in overtime, but we came back into this game really frustrated with the way we played and then we were down 1-0 almost the whole game. We were able to rally again at the end of the game with the extra skater and then rallied through, came together as a team to finish this out, especially at home was great." #7 Casey Borgiel
"I think yesterday we worked hard and unfortunately we did not get the outcome we wanted. So we came today, fired up, ready to go. We were ready to go, right from the puck drop and I think that makes a difference. We went hard, we put it to them, it was a game with a few ebbs and flows. We just kept persevering through and kept working. It's a team battle where everyone has each other's backs. If I made a mistake, someone had mine, and if someone in front of me made a mistake, I had theirs. And that's the biggest part of being a team. We were just able to put two in the net and bring it home." #29 Madison Beck
UP NEXT:
The Crusaders return to action on Friday, October 20 at 7 p.m. to host Boston College in their conference opener at the Hart Center Rink.
