WILLIAMSTOWN, MA -- Bowdoin sitting in first place in NESCAC came to Williamstown Friday night to face off against the Ephs at Lansing Chapman Rink. Coming off their first loss in 14 games to Middlebury last weekend, Bowdoin looked to regroup and begin a new winning streak.
The Ephs denied the Polar Bears another win however and battled to a tie. The score stayed knotted at 1-1 throughout regulation and into the overtime period, as Eph goaltender Chloe Billadeau (Chaska, MN) and Bowdoin netminder Kayla Lessard went back and forth making nice saves to keep their teams in the game and force the contest to a draw.
Billadeau finished the night with 33 saves on 34 shots in 65 minutes of play, while counterpart Lessard stopped 21 on the Ephs' 22 shots in 65 minutes of play.
Bowdoin wasted no time getting on the board as freshman standout Rachel Kennedy started things off by circling with the puck from the half wall into the slot. She fired a shot low to Chloe Billadeau's blocker side and the puck made its way through traffic and into the goal to give the Polar Bears a 1-0 advantage after just three minutes of play. Kennedy's 11th goal of the season was assisted by Stephanie Ludy.
Neither team would add to the scoreboard for the remainder of the period. Despite two man-up chances late in the frame due to a pair of Bowdoin penalties, the Ephs failed to convert on any of their power play looks.
Williams ended the first period outshooting Bowdoin 8-6. They would carry this offensive momentum into the middle stanza.
1:54 into the second, Sam Weinstein (Marblehead, MA) took the puck from the left point and moved towards the high slot where she sent a low screen shot in the right side of the net that Bowdoin goaltender Kayla Lessard never saw. Weinstein's tally would tie the game up at 1. Haena Lee (Bethesda, MD) and Gwen Schultz (Wallingford, CT) were credited with the assists.
A Bowdoin penalty with five minutes to go gave Williams a chance to create their first lead of the night. Bowdoin was able to kill the penalty without much difficulty.
The Polar Bears saw a power play chance of their own with just under a minute left. The visitors established control in their offensive zone, but were unable to tack on a second goal before the intermission. After 40 minutes of play, the Ephs held a slight shots on goal advantage, 15-14.
The final period created a number of chances for the Polar Bears to regain their lead. In addition to the continuation of the second period power play in the opening minute, a pair of Eph penalties would keep the Eph penalty kill unit busy throughout the first 10 minutes. The Ephs refused to budge and the contest remained deadlocked at 1.
"The penalty kill was great again, which makes a huge difference," said eph head coach Meghan Gillis. "That whole group was tremendous, and being able to get the puck out just builds momentum for us."
As time ran out in regulation, Billadeau and the Eph defense held strong to stop all attempts from the Polar Bears to send the game into overtime.
The Polar Bears saw their golden opportunity to score when an Eph penalty came with 1:03 remaining. Williams kept Bowdoin at bay and Billadeau turned away everything that came at her to end the thriller even at 1.
Pleased with her team's performance, Gillis stated, "I thought that we showed a lot of speed, executed the game plan and we played 65 good minutes of hockey, which is hard to do."
The in-conference series continues tomorrow afternoon. Game time is set for 3pm.
