Women’s ice hockey loses in overtime after third-period success
- Kyra Tolley
- Feb 14
- 3 min read
By Kyra Tolley Asst. Sports Editor Framingham State women’s ice hockey lost 3-2 to the New England College Pilgrims in a non-conference game Feb. 11. The Rams have yet to win a game this season, but have shown tenacity in their recent matchups, which is promising for the future of the program. Their record is now 0-19. To start the first period, freshman Sarah Lewis won the faceoff, but early on, Framingham fell behind. Before the Rams could even get a shot off, the Pilgrims scored while at even strength. Other than the early goal for NEC, Framingham controlled the first period. The Rams were a force on offense, outshooting the Pilgrims 14-4. In earlier games this season, Framingham had trouble creating opportunities on offense, but that seemed to improve against NEC. Despite their onslaught of shots at the Pilgrims’ net, the Rams were unable to score in the first period, which ended with a score of 1-0. To start the second period, Lewis won another faceoff - a trend throughout the game. Lewis set up for 23 faceoffs and came out victorious in 14 of them. Lewis said she focuses on timing everything right. “When I put my stick down on the faceoff dot, I shut my mind off completely.” Freshman Kalina Cochran also maintained Framingham’s dominance in faceoffs by single-handedly matching the number of faceoffs won by the entire NEC team. Cochran won 15 of her 18 faceoffs. The Rams collectively won 30 faceoffs, while the Pilgrims only won 15. Framingham wasn’t able to continue outshooting NEC in the second period, with both teams tallying 11 shots. Goaltending in the second period for the Rams was freshman Anna McGinty, who made an impressive, sprawled-out save to keep the score to 1-0. She totaled 10 saves on the day. Despite McGinty’s skill in net, the Pilgrims’ increase in offensive opportunities in the second period allowed them to score another even-strength goal. The second period closed out with NEC in the lead 2-0. Lewis said going into the third period, she thought of the game as a 0-0 game. “I do my best to stay positive so I can focus on what I can do to help the team succeed.” Just 1:36 into the third period, freshman Petra Cernicek scored at even strength, assisted by freshman Alyssa Tansek. Tansek carried the puck from the left side of the Rams’ offensive zone into dangerous territory, where she shot and hit the pads of the Pilgrims’ goalie. Cernicek capitalized on the deflection and shot the puck in for the goal. From this moment until the end of regulation, Framingham had momentum. Freshman Lila Chamoun, who was in net for the final period, still had to make big saves off the Pilgrims’ counterattacks. The Rams found themselves with one defender between two Pilgrims and Chamoun, but her ability to make important saves stopped the puck from going in. During this period, the Rams took twice as many shots as NEC. Leading the team in shots was Cernicek and Cochran, who had 7 shots each, and freshman Lily Wilson, who had 6 shots. Lewis scored unassisted to tie the game 2-2 with under 7 minutes left to play. Lewis made outstanding moves around NEC’s defenders and skated across the face of the net to flick the puck around the goalie for the goal. The ensuing minutes saw the Rams applying even more pressure on offense, but they couldn’t score another goal before time ran out. The third period ended in a 2-2 tie. With 5 minutes on the clock for overtime, the Pilgrims made quick work of the Rams, scoring in just 1:03. Framingham State women’s ice hockey has three games left in the season, all of which are conference games. Their next matchup is away Feb. 14 against Rivier University.
