Lancers Play to Tie to Close out Regular Season

Worcester, MA- On Saturday evening, the Worcester State Women's Hockey team was back in action to take on Rivier in a road contest to wrap up the regular season. The Lancers and Raiders played to a 3-3 tie on the evening.

Heading into the game, Worcester State's main goal was to fine-tune their play before the ECHA playoffs start next Friday. Sophomore Kelsey Czerniawski (Chicopee, Mass.) made sure Rivier did not score a quick goal early in the game to gain momentum. Worcester State had two shots on goal in the first six minutes of the game, including one puck that struck the pipe. Even though the Lancers had a 14-3 shot advantage in the opening period, the score remained 0-0 heading into the first intermission.

As the second period began, Worcester State was determined to gain a lead. At just .39 seconds into the period, Rivier went on the first power play of the game, but was denied the opportunity to take the lead thanks to Czerniawski. A few minutes later, Worcester State was able to go on their first power play of the contest but could not break through on the scoreboard. However, at the 6:39 mark of the second period, junior Anya Laxton (Holbrook, N.Y.) was able to help Worcester State break through on the scoreboard by shooting a puck into the back of the net to provide the Lancers a 1-0 advantage. Rivier was able to even the score at 1-1 when Jillian Hallee was able to score a power play goal. Just under a minute after Rivier knotted up the score,  junior Amy MacGlashing (Marlborough, Mass.) was able to provide the Lancers a 2-1 lead with a little over nine minutes remaining in the period. Just like earlier in the period, Rivier was able to score another power-play goal due to the stick work of Jessica Driscoll. For the remainder of the period, both teams played even as both teams went into the second intermission tied 2-2.

Leading into the third period, Worcester State tried to ensure that Rivier did not outscore them in the final twenty minutes of play. .95 seconds into the third period, Worcester State captain graduate student Clare Conway (Billerica, Mass.) contributed to her team's attack, taking a 3-2 lead in the period thanks to her steady play. In a similar trend to the second period, Rivier was able to tie up the score again off the stick of Chiara Skeels. For the remainder of the period, neither team could get the 4th goal to end the game in regulation, so the game went into overtime.  In the overtime period, neither team could score, as the game ended in a 3-3 tie.

What's next:

Worcester State (16-7-2, 4-1-1) received a bye into the ECHA Semi-Finals and will return to their home ice on February 24 against Assumption with a puck drop at 4:00.