Box Score UTICA, NY – In a rematch from the night before, the Nazareth University women's ice hockey team were unable to complete the comeback win against Utica University in an exciting 2-1 overtime loss Saturday afternoon.

Even with the series being split one win apiece, the Golden Flyers come away with a 4-2 advantage in points from the weekend, as they gained 3 points for the regulation win on Friday night and 1 point for the overtime loss today, while the Pioneers only gained 2 points for the overtime win.

The Golden Flyers are now 4-2-0 overall (3-1-0 UCHC), while the Pioneers now stand 7-1-0 (3-1-0 UCHC).

The game began with both teams playing hard and looking to gain the advantage early. Plagued by several icings, the Golden Flyers were unable to build momentum throughout period and the score was still at 0-0 going into the first intermission.

After a discombobulated start to the period due to issues with the arena's clock and scoreboard, the game resumed with back-and-forth play between the two teams. With just about five minutes left in the second period, the Pioneers finally broke the tie with a powerplay goal and established the 1-0 lead.

The third period led to even more intense play, reflected in a series of penalties traded back-and-forth throughout the period. With each set of special teams seeing the ice, neither side could establish momentum, until Naz began their fourth powerplay of the game with just under six minutes left in the game.

Junior Alexis Jones won the faceoff back to graduate student Julia Holmes, who passed the puck across the blue-line to freshman Sophia Pittis on the right side. From there, Pittis' shot was initially saved, but sophomore Meredith Boettcher was crashing the net at the perfect time on the backdoor to put the rebound away. Boettcher's third goal of the season set the score tied at 1-1, and allowed the game to progress to 3-v-3 overtime.

Overtime saw a continuation of the intense play from regulation, with both teams trading odd-man rushes up and down the ice. The Pioneers had a 2-on-1 advantage down the ice, with a Nazareth player hustling back to intercept the pass across. The puck redirected off of her stick and arrived on the backdoor for Utica junior Kaci Ryder to put away and give the Pioneers the 2-1 overtime win.

Nazareth came away with the advantages in shots (49-48), faceoffs won (35-30), and blocked shots (13-12). Graduate student goaltender McKinkley Hoff finished the game with 26 saves.

The Golden Flyers are home on Tuesday November 26 th for a 3:15pm game against William Smith College.