ORONO, Maine -- Myriam Croussette's (Baie-Comeau, Quebec) goal with 4:13 remaining in the period tied things up for the Black Bears as Maine and Union skated to a 2-2 tie on Friday afternoon. The Black Bears see their record move to 7-7-4 on the season while Union now stands at 1-13-3. Junior captain Dawn Sullivan (Enfield, Nova Scotia) also scored a goal for the Black Bears.
The Black Bears would take advantage of a pair of late Union tripping penalties and break the scoreless tie 15:43 into the first period. Maine setup in their power play offense as Kayla Kaluzny (Calgary, Alberta) and Ashley Norum (Fairbanks, Alaska) traded passes on the blue line. Kaluzny would send the puck to the endline where Danielle Ward (Lansing, Mich.) gathered the pass. Ward would send a pass from the left post to the slot where Brittany Dougherty (Chesterfield, Mich.) was stationed. Dougherty showed great patienance and tipped a short pass to the right post where Sullivan buried her fifth goal of the year to put Maine on top 1-0.
Union would tie the game 17:11 into the second period. Lauren Cromartie controlled the puck deep in the left circle in the Maine zone. She would stop, spin around, and hit Lauren Hoffman with a pass. Hoffman would then skate towards the net and sneak a wrist shot by Maine goaltender Candice Currier (Goffstown, N.H.) to tie the game.
The Dutchwomen would take the lead just 17 seconds into the third period. Maddy Norton stole the puck in the Maine zone and slipped a shot into the back of the Black Bears net for her first career goal.
Currier would keep the game scoreless, making a great stop with 11:50 remaining in the third period. Stefanie Thomson forced a turnover at center ice and skated in all alone on Currier. Thomson darted to Currier's left but Currier was quick and made the pad save to shut her down.
Croussette tied things up for Maine when she notched her eighth tally of the season with 4:13 remaining in the third period. Dominique Goutsis (Coquitlam, British Columbia) fought for the puck on the left boards, gaining control and hitting Croussette in the slot with a pass. Croussette controlled the puck and rifled a shot that snuck past Dutchwomen goaltender Alana Marcinko. Jennie Gallo (Castlegar, British Columbia) also assisted on the goal for the Black Bears.
The game would go to overtime, where the Black Bears outshot Union 4-1. Maine's best chance would come when Kaluzny snagged the puck at the blueline and skated in on Marcinko. Kaluzny put a move on the goaltender and tried to stuff the puck home but Marcinko held her ground, keeping the game scoreless.
Currier would make a great save of her own in the extra frame. With 1:09 left to play, Kelly Alyea got behind the Maine defense and carried the puck in towards the Maine net. Alyea put a move on Currier and tried to stuff the puck home but the junior goaltender would stick out a pad and make a nice kicker save to keep things at 2-2.
The Black Bears outshot Union by a 27-17 margin and were 1-7 on the power play. Maine has now scored a power play goal in its last six games. Maine killed off all five Union power play opportunities.
Currier made 15 stops in net for Maine while her record moves to 1-1-1 on the season. Marcinko made 25 saves in the tie for the Dutchwomen as her record moves to 0-2-2.
The two teams meet in the weekend finale tomorrow at Alfond Arena with puck drop scheduled for 12 p.m.