ROCHESTER, NY – Junior Julia Holmes fired a shot from the point that found its way through the traffic in front of the Utica goal and into the back of the net early in the second overtime period as the Nazareth Women's Hockey team won a thrilling 3-2 victory over Utica University Saturday to claim its second straight United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) Championship title and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Nazareth (22-5-1) will find out its opponent and date for the first round of the NCAA Tournament with the selection show scheduled for 8:30 p.m. Sunday night.
The Golden Flyers had an early lead against Utica (22-3-3) as Tournament MVP Ally Watrous picked up a rebound from a shot by fifth-year player Gabriella DeMeo and pushed a shot past Utica goalie Angela Hawthorne 4:29 into the game.
Hawthorne, who was selected to the All-Tournament team, made several big saves in the opening period to keep the game close and the Pioneers scored twice in the second period to take a 2-1 lead.
The teams battled hard in the third period with each goalie picking up key saves but it was a goal by freshman Abby Flanagan with 7.6 seconds left in the third period that forced the overtime periods.
Graduate student Abby Luth sent a pass from behind the Utica net to the blueline where DeMeo skated in a couple strides before launching a shot toward the Pioneer goal. Hawthorne made the initial save but Flanagan was able to knock in the rebound for the tying goal. Flanagan was also named to the All-Tournament Team.
After a scoreless first 20-minute overtime period, Nazareth went on the attack early in the second overtime and drew a tripping penalty 1:19 into the period to go on its sixth power play of the game.
Utica gained possession of the puck behind its goal 30 seconds into the power play and sent the puck around the boards in an attempt to clear the zone but Holmes stopped the puck at the blue line and took a shot that eventually found the back of the net to end the game.
Utica's Erica Sloan and Carly Stefanni, who each recorded a point in the title game earned spots on the All-Tournament team and sophomore defense Sydney Swanson was also named to the All-Tournament Team.
The announcement of the NCAA Tournament pairings and game times will be made on the Nazareth Athletics website and social media accounts Sunday night.
