MANCHESTER, N.H. – Kathryn Picarello (West Roxbury, Mass.) scored two goals for the Hawks, but that would not be enough as the Saint Anselm College women's ice hockey team fell to Williams College, 4-3 in overtime, Tuesday evening at Thomas F. Sullivan Arena.
Gabrielle Vukasin scored 11 seconds into the extra frame to lift the Ephs to victory. The puck was dumped into the Williams zone and squirted off the boards and towards the left side of the net. Vukasin picked up the loose puck and eventually poked it past Saint Anselm goaltender Janice Michaud (Westwood, Mass.) to earn the win.
The Hawks are dished their first loss in five games and move to 7-2-2 overall, while Williams improves to 4-2-0 for the 2012-13 campaign.
Saint Anselm quickly jumped out to a 2-0 lead within the first two minutes of the game, before Williams battled back to tie it, twice throughout the course of the contest.
Picarello was first to score, just 13 seconds into the game, as she came flying through the slot, took a shot that was saved by Chloe Billadeau, and then picked up her own rebound and buried the puck into the open left side. Franny Nicholson (St. Paul, Minn.) and Rosemarie Giarrusso (Royal Palm Beach, Fla.) each pick up an assist on the play.
Giarrusso netted the second tally of the scoring streak when she picked up a loose puck in the crease and beat a diving Billadeau at 1:54 of the opening frame.
Williams jumped on the board at 6:05 of the first stanza when Vukasin netted her first of the game on an Ephs power play. Aimee Dennett sent a shot from the high slot that was tipped at the top of the crease by Vukasin, who sent the puck sailing over Michaud's shoulder.
The Ephs sunk the equalizer at 2:08 of the second period when Natalie Bernstein picked up the puck at the opposite blue-line and skated through the neutral zone and into the Hawks' zone. She escaped on a breakaway and deked a Saint Anselm defender as well as Michaud and beat her to the right side.
The Hawks' answered to put them back in front 3-2 when Picarello netted the rebound off a Marianne Kristiansen (Anchorage, Alaska) shot at 8:01 of the second stanza.
The Ephs scored two straight unanswered goals, including the game-winner in overtime to seal the win.
At 17:58 Williams saw the game-tying goal from Gwendolyn Schultz when she tipped in a shot Talia Simon in the high slot.
Michaud made 20 saves in the loss, while Billadeau made 29 saves to earn the win.
The Hawks return to action Thursday, Dec. 6 at 7 p.m. when travel to Maine and take on Colby College. Stay up-to-date with the latest news, including game previews and recaps, directly from the Saint Anselm College athletic department by liking us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/STAHawks) and following us on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/STAHawks).
