HARRISVILLE, R.I. (Feb. 22) – Castleton State College junior Laura Szwed scored her second goal of the game with 1:11 remaining in overtime to lift the Spartans to a 4-3 victory over Nichols College in the ECAC Women’s East regular season finale for both teams Monday afternoon. With the win, the Spartans improve to 5-19-1 overall and 5-13-1 in league play, leapfrogging over Nichols in the standings to claim the seventh seed in the conference tournament. The Bison finish as the eighth seed with a 4-17-3 overall record and a 3-14-2 ECAC ledger, and will make their first-ever postseason appearance.
Nichols will travel to face top-seeded and ninth-ranked Manhattanville for the quarterfinal round on Saturday, February 27th for a 3 p.m. game in Rye, N.Y. Castleton State will stay closer to home with a game at second-seeded Norwich on Saturday at a time yet to be determined.
After a scoreless opening period, Nichols got on the board just 28 seconds into the second frame on a Devin Leary (Dorchester, Mass.) power-play goal assisted by Mandy Manopla (West Palm Beach, Fla.). The Bison added another power-play tally late in the stanza as Haylie Carter (Forney, Texas) converted a pass from Ashley O’Donnell (No. Scituate, R.I.) in the slot for a two-goal lead at 16:57.
Szwed picked up her first goal of the game to open the third period just 1:35 in on the power play, cutting the Bison’s lead in half. Eileen Coyne found Szwed in the left circle where the junior fired a slapshot that snuck into the upper right corner of the net.
Manopla gave Nichols its two-goal lead back with an unassisted breakaway at 7:44 of the period after forcing a turnover in the neutral zone and bringing it in unopposed for a wrister that she placed high past the glove of Spartans’ netminder Amanda Hoy.
It was all Castleton after that, however, as less than a minute later Meagan Hulbert scored her third of the year while skating four-on four to spark the Spartans’ comeback. Kaitlin Hayes’s shot was blocked, but Jade Werger got the loose puck to Hulbert at the right faceoff dot for a slapshot that beat Nichols goaltender Christine Rigosi (Ridgewood, N.Y.) at 8:26.
With just 19 seconds remaining in regulation, the Spartans were on a power play and had pulled Hoy in favor of a six-on-four advantage. After a series of shots, Hulbert slipped the puck out to the left point for Hayes. She took her time and sent in a shot into a scrum of players where Maryanne Diehm tipped it just inside the post for knot the game.
Both teams had equal opportunities in the extra session, but it was a breakout pass from Christine Newton that found Szwed as she was crossing the blue line. Szwed skated past the Nichols defense on the right and curled in front of the net before lifting the puck past Rigosi at 3:39.
Hoy earned the win – her second of the season – with 35 saves. Rigosi shouldered the loss with 25 saves.
Nichols finished 2-for-6 on the power play; Castleton State was 2-for-5.
Box Score