SO. BURLINGTON, Vt. – Sophomore forward Alex Starzyk (Enfield, Conn.) scored the game-opening goal in the waning minutes of the second period at C. Douglas Cairns Arena, but #3-seeded Holy Cross responded with three straight goals in the third frame to upset the Saint Anselm College women's hockey team in an ECAC Open semifinal Saturday afternoon, 3-1.
The loss dropped Saint Anselm to 17-6-2 overall and sends the #2-seeded Hawks into the Consolation Game Sunday afternoon where they will face host Saint Michaels College. Holy Cross, which scored its third victory against Saint Anselm in four matchups this season, improves to 17-7-3 overall and moves into the ECAC Open Championship Game against top-seeded Franklin Pierce Sunday.
As it has for much of the season, Saint Anselm dominated the first period by outshooting Holy Cross 13-3 in the opening session alone. The Hawks continued to pressure the Crusader defense into the second period, before finally breaking through late in the second stanza.
Junior Alex Kazmer (Crystal Lake, Ill.) collected a pass from All-ECAC East First Team nominee and sophomore Alison Quinn (Canton, Mass.) and threw the puck into the kill zone. Crusader goaltender Alexandra Stevenson made the initial save, but the rebound caromed directly to the stick of Starzyk who rung up the game's first goal at the 18:26 mark of the second period.
Facing a 1-0 deficit after the second intermission, Holy Cross responded with a quick score by Kara Violette at the 1:54 mark of the third period on a shot that trickled through the five-hole of Saint Anselm goaltender Lindsey Brown (Mounds View, Minn.).
Six minutes later with the game locked at 1-1, a mis-clear by the Hawks defense was intercepted by Holy Cross forward Erin Hall, who rocketed a shot past Brown to give the Crusaders their first lead of the game. Finally, Nicole Giannino put the game on ice at the 12:52 mark, streaking up the left side of the ice and snapping a wrister past Brown's blocker.
Saint Anselm pulled Brown in favor of an extra attacker with two minutes remaining in the game and got off two shots from deep in the offensive zone, but neither would get past Stevenson as the Crusaders sealed their second straight comeback victory over the Hawks.
Brown would take her first loss of the season, falling to 14-1-1 overall while securing 22 saves. Stevenson picked up her 11th win of the year while tallying a game-high 31 saves.
Saturday's loss was just the second semifinal defeat for Saint Anselm in the 11 years of the postseason tournament, snapping a six-game win streak in ECAC Open Tournament play and halting the Hawks' quest for four-peating as tournament champions.
The Hawks will return to C. Douglas Cairns Arena Sunday for the Consolation Game and 2014-15 season finale against Saint Michael's. Saint Anselm put forth a pair of dominant performances in the two teams' regular season matchups with a 2-1 victory back in early November and a 3-0 shutout in South Burlington just two weeks ago. Saint Michael's fell 6-1 to Franklin Pierce in Saturday's second semifinal, with Jillian Witwicki scoring the lone goal for the Purple Knights early in the second period.
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