Orono, Maine -- Senior day for The University of Maine women's ice hockey team ended with a walk off goal in OT as senior leader, Jennie Gallo (Castlegar, British Columbia) provided the game winner for a 3-2 Maine win against #4 Boston University.
The scoring action started deep into the opening period as Boston University star, Jenn Wakefield skated on a diagonal across the neutral zone and received a perfect pass from Kaleigh Fratkin. All she then needed was a fraction of a second to dangle past a Maine defender and flip a wrist shot over the right blocker of Maine goalie, Brittany Ott (St. Clair Shores, Mich.). Catherine Ward also assisted on the play.
Maine then took control of the game midway through the second period with two straight unanswered goals. The first came off of an effort from Danielle Ward (Lansing, Mich.), as she drove down behind the BU net and then dumped the puck in front where Dawn Sullivan (Enfield, Nova Scotia) stuffed home the game tying goal, top shelf.
The Black Bears notched the go-ahead goal with just a few minutes left in the second period as Boston University went on one of their four power plays. However, it was Maine who was able to find the back of the net as Chloe Tinkler (Wabush, Newfoundland) connected with Brittany Dougherty (Chesterfield, Mich.), who wrapped her stick around Kerrin Sperry and lifted a shot over her shoulder, to give Maine the 2-1 lead.
Maine would hold this advantage for nearly the entire next frame. After an ambush of offensive attacks from the Terriers, they finally broke through to even the score with just 42 seconds left in the game. The period was not over yet however, as Maine got a big boost from their last second efforts. Boston University was forced into a penalty by Maine's aggressive play and to open overtime, Boston University was whistled for yet another penalty.
This put Maine on the five on three power play and after a barrage of attempts, found the back of the net with just 20 seconds left on the five on three. It was freshman, Kayla Kaluzny who fired the initial shot and after the puck ricocheted off of Sperry's blocker, it found its way to senior, Jennie Gallo, who put home Maine's last ditch effort at a playoff run.
Where and when Maine will next play is unfortunately not up to The Maine Black Bears any longer. With their two points they earned from the win, and a tie that New Hampshire earned with Boston College; New Hampshire and Maine are now deadlocked for the sixth and final playoff spot in WHEA. However, with Maine's edge on the season series being at two games to one over New Hampshire, the Black Bears own the tiebreaker and now will sit and wait for the results of tomorrow afternoon's game, which is set to get underway at 2:00 p.m.