Providence, R.I. (January 31, 2008) - The Providence College women's ice hockey team came back from a two goal deficit to defeat Boston University, 4-3, on Thursday night. PC and BU were at third and fourth place in the Hockey East entering the game, and the teams battled back and forth for the valuable league points, but it was the Friars who came out on top, taking the lead for good at 14:09 of the third period when Katy Beach scored the game-winner.
In the first period, Boston University started the scoring with two goals. Holly Lorms scored the first goal 8:56 into the game, with the assists going to Amanda Shaw and Laurel Koller. The Terriers struck again at 9:48 to take the 2-0 lead when Sarah Appleton picked up a loose puck in the slot and found the back of the net after PC goaltender Danielle Ciarletta (Blaine, Minn.) made the initial stop on Kelley Karnan, who was credited with an assist.
In the second period, the Friars were able to erase the deficit with two goals of their own. Jean O'Neill (Strafford, Pa.) scored at 3:58 when she one-timed a Mari Pehkonen (Tampere, Finland) pass past BU goaltender Melissa Haber from the slot. Providence struck again at 8:54 when Kathleen Smith (Waterloo, Ont.) ripped one past Haber from the right face-off dot. Colleen Martin (Woburn, Mass.) had an assist on the goal.
In the third period, Providence was able to score the go ahead goal at 1:29 when O'Neill netted her second of the game, with assists going to linemates Pehkonen and Alyse Ruff (Tualatin, Ore.). But BU answered back when Jillian Kirchner beat Ciarletta down low while on the power-play. The goal was made possible by a Sarah Appleton pass that came from the near point to Kirchner, who was just off the far post. Beach then scored the game-winner at 14:09. She picked up a Sarah Feldman (Fall River, Mass.) pass in the neutral zone, skated down the near side boards, then cut in front at the goal line to deke Haber and deposit a backhander into the back of the net. Danielle Tangredi (London, Ont.) also collected an assist on the play. Ciarletta finished with 22 saves for the Friars, while Haber made 28 saves in defeat. With the win Providence improves to 12-10-3 (7-3-2 HE), while BU falls to 8-12-3 (5-6-1 HE).
The Friars return to action Saturday, February 2 when they close out the season series with the Terriers at BU's Walter Brown Arena. The game will begin at 3:00 p.m.