ASTON, PA. - Nicole Alexopoulos scored one minute, 28 seconds into overtime as the Neumann University women's ice hockey team rallied for a 3-2 win versus visiting Cortland in ECAC West action Friday night. The Red Dragons fell to 4-11 overall and 3-6 in the conference with the loss, while the Knights improved to 9-6-1 and 4-4-1.
Senior
Nicole Ruddy (Utica/Mohawk Valley Herricanes) led Cortland with a goal and an assist. Freshman
Chelsey Wright (Medford/Suffolk PAL) scored a goal and freshman
Sam Kuntz (Somers/Brewster Bulldogs) added an assist. Freshman goalie
Sarah Sitcov (Arlington, VA/Wyoming Seminary) turned aside 49 shots.
Kayla Dubowksi netted a pair of goals for the Knights, and Jessica Schroeder collected three assists. Goalie Shannon Donnelly made 14 saves.
After a scoreless first period in which Sitcov stopped 17 shots, Wright gave Cortland a 1-0 lead at 11:42 of the second off assists from Ruddy and Kuntz. The Red Dragons carried the lead into the second intermission thanks to Sitcov, who denied all 20 shots she faced in the second period.
Dubowski put Neumann on the scoreboard at 7:24 of the third period on the power play, but Cortland regained the lead at 17:20 when Ruddy tallied an unassisted short-handed goal. The lead was short-lived, however, as Dubowski scored her second of the night just 30 seconds later to send the game into overtime, where Alexopoulos won it.
Neumann 3, Cortland 2 (OT)
Score by periods:
Cortland 0-1-1-0 2
Neumann 0-0-2-1 3
Scoring Summary (Goals-Assists):
Cortland:
Nicole Ruddy 1-1,
Chelsey Wright 1-0,
Sam Kuntz 0-1
Neumann: Kayla Dubowski 2-0, Nicole Alexopoulos 1-0, Jessica Schroeder 0-3, Diane Peters 0-1, Niki Blazenko 0-1, Jasper Thomson 0-1
Saves:
Sarah Sitcov (Cortland) 49 saves (3 GA in 61:28); Shannon Donnelly (Neumann) 14 saves (2 GA in 61:28)
Shots on goal: Neumann 52 (17-20-13-2), Cortland 16 (7-4-5-0)
Penalties: Cortland 10-23:00, Neumann 7-14:00
Power Play: Neumann 1-8, Cortland 0-5
Records after game: Cortland (Red Dragons) 4-11, 3-6 ECAC West; Neumann (Knights) 9-6-1, 4-4-1 ECAC West