Women’s Hockey Finish Regular Season with Win at Rivier

LOWELL, Mass. – The MCLA Women's Ice Hockey team wrapped up the regular season of their first year with a road game at Rivier University at the Tsongas Arena. The Trailblazers entered the game locked in as the number four seed in the ECHA playoffs but had a chance to play spoiler, with the Raiders needing a win to have a shot at the top seed. It was a successful end to the regular season as MCLA brought home their first conference victory with three different Trailblazers lighting the lamp in a 3-1 win.

THE BASICS:

• Date: Sunday, February 18, 2024
• Score: MCLA 3, Opponent 1
• Records: MCLA Trailblazers 5-18-1 (ECHA 1-10-1) | Rivier University Raiders 11-10-3 (ECHA 6-4-2)

HIGHLIGHTS

• MCLA was the first team to break through with a goal, doing so before most fans had a chance to get comfortable in their seats when Natasha Lozowchuk tallied the first goal of her collegiate career only 23 seconds into the game. The goal was a power play goal after Rivier had been assessed a delay of game penalty for being late to take the ice. After winning the opening faceoff and going into the offensive zone, the Trailblazers cycled the puck around behind the net, with the puck eventually finding its way out to Summer Bissaillion at the point. Bissaillion passed the puck to Alexandrea Bednar, who fired off a shot that bounced off the goalie and right to Lozowchuk on the doorstep for a goal on a wide-open net. The assists for Bissaillion and Bednar were their third and ninth, respectively.
• Another MCLA player doubled that lead with another first collegiate career goal; this time, the honor went to Abby Davis less than three minutes into the second period. A Raiders defender made the mistake of attempting to clear the puck from the right side of their defensive zone to the left side, only to find Davis intercepting the pass in the slot and letting go of a wrist shot into the top left corner of the goal.
• Rivier would halve that lead, however, before the end of the second period when Tia Picardi (at 14:45, assisted by Briana Parent) finally removed the goose egg for the Raiders on the scoreboard.
• With the clock winding under three minutes in regulation, the Trailblazers added an insurance goal with only one second left on a power play opportunity off the stick of Brigh Cote. Following an amazing save of a short-handed attempt for the Raiders by MCLA netminder Juliette Barney, the Trailblazers worked back into their offensive zone with Mallory Stuart skating through the neutral zone and setting up above the right faceoff circle and sending a centering pass to Belle Wurmser in front of the net. Wurmser redirected the puck off the goalie's pads, and the rebound bounced right out to a crashing Cote for the final score. The goal was Cote's second of the year, while the assist was the second for Stuart and the fifth for Wurmser.
• Barney continued her run of outstanding play in the net, turning away 37 of the 38 shots that Rivier put on the net to improve her record to 4-10-1. The 37 saves mark the ninth straight time she has finished with 35 or more saves and the 12^th time in 14 games she has reached that level this season.
• The Raiders' Rachel Symmes was saddled with the loss, dropping to 6-9-1 for the year despite setting aside 29 of 32 shots.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Shots: MCLA 32, Rivier 38
• Saves: MCLA 37, Rivier 29
• Faceoffs Won: MCLA 36, Rivier 30
• Penalty/Minutes: MCLA 5/18:00, Rivier 6/20:00
• Power Plays: MCLA 2 for 6, Rivier 0 for 4

UP NEXT:

On Friday, MCLA will be back in action when they travel to the Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Center for the ECHA semi-finals against the Worcester State Lancers. The puck will drop at 2:40 p.m.

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