CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - The Holy Cross women's ice hockey team made its way to the city for round two at Boston College. The Crusaders and the Eagles ended in a tie after 65 minutes of play but earned the extra point in Hockey East standings due to a shootout win.
The Crusaders got off to a strong start with freshman forward Manny Gendron netting her first collegiate goal at 13:01 in the opening period. She was assisted by junior defenseman Emma Min. The Eagles replied with a goal of their own just a couple minutes later. Sophomore forward Charlotte Sonntag scored her first goal of the season to reclaim the lead for the Crusaders at the 17:28 mark. She was assisted by senior forward Bryn Saarela.
Both teams continued to battle but after the Crusaders were left down a skater due to a penalty, Boston College scored a power-play goal for the equalizer at 17:44. Neither team was able to take the lead in the third period sending the Crusaders to their fifth overtime game of the season. Despite multiple great shot attempts and many great saves by goalie Madison Beck, neither team scored in overtime to end in a tie.
The game went to shootouts to decide what team would earn the extra point in league standings. After eight rounds of great saves from both goalies, junior defenseman Carmen Elliot snuck a goal past BC's goalie. Beck denied the Eagles in net to lead the Crusaders to their first tie in program history.
"Just a really good gutsy play by our team. I thought there was a period of time where we were having trouble getting out of our zone and our team just sticks with it. Really good for Manny Gendron to get her first college goal and Charlotte Sonntag just getting to the net and getting in those dirty areas. That's something I think our team does really well. And Maddie Beck played outstanding today, kept us in the game. A lot of time, we were just fighting and we had some really good chances on the other end," said head coach Katie Lachapelle. "You could see in the shootout it was kind of a goalie's dual there. Fortunately Carmen Elliot snuck one in and, and Maddie Beck came up with a big save after. So, really proud of the effort of our team and just the togetherness that they play with. They never quit. So we're looking forward to the next weekend."
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Holy Cross struck first with a goal by Gendron at 13:01 in the first period. The Eagles responded with a power-play goal at 15:33 to tie the game. Sonntag scored on a power-play goal to reclaim the lead at 17:28 - Boston College equalized at 17:44 in the second period - Neither team scored in the third period or overtime - Holy Cross won the shootout 1-0 over the Eagles to earn two of the three points possible in the competition - Boston College led Holy Cross in shot attempts, 37-26
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
- Gendron scored her first collegiate goal - Min made her first assist of the year - Sonntag and Elliot scored their first goals of the season - Beck made a season high of 35 saves to 37 shots faced on the day.
PLAYER QUOTES:
"This game we just battled hard and grew with each period. We adapted well. We worked hard for 65 minutes and it was very exciting to get the first program tie with BC and then end up winning it in a shootout. It was a whole team effort and that's how we get it done." #29 Madison Beck
"I feel like the team really picked it up as the periods were going and we worked as a team. We worked really hard and we finished with a good shootout. I felt really good about my first goal. The puck went really slow into the net, so I wasn't sure, but when I saw it go in, I was really excited." #19 Manny Gendron
"I felt like our team played pretty well today. We definitely had some ups and downs. The goal was huge. I think it really gave us a jump to really push through the third period and just keep the momentum going. The shootout was definitely fun. I felt like we played well and it really just came together as a team at the end there." #26 Charlotte Sonntag
"I think this is just a big moment for our program to just show Hockey East that we are competitive. To everybody who thought we were gonna be ranked 10th in the league, I think this shows that we can compete with anyone." #14 Carmen Elliot
UP NEXT:
Holy Cross will travel to Northeastern on Friday, Oct. 27 at 7 pm. in Boston, Mass. at Matthews Arena.
