Box Score GORHAM, Maine -- Junior Jade Werger (Maple Ridge, B.C.) jammed in a loose puck at 3:57 of overtime to give the visiting Castleton State College Spartans a 2-1 victory over the University of Southern Maine Huskies Saturday afternoon in an ECAC Women's East game played at the USM Ice Arena.
The win was the third straight for the Spartans who reach the .500 mark at 3-3-0 overall. The Spartans improved to 3-1-0 in the league. The Huskies fall to .500 at 2-2-0 overall and in league play. The two teams will meet again at Castleton State on February 10.
Werger found herself in the right place at the right time with just over a minute to play in the five-minute extra session. The puck squirted loose in the USM crease where Werger got her stick to it and pushed it through the prone bodies for the game-winning goal. The unassisted marker was Werger's second of the season.
Southern Maine forced the extra time when senior Kylie Blasen (Okemos, Mich.) potted her second goal of the season midway through the third period. Blasen took a pass from classmate Joanna Gaube (Woodstock, Conn.), skated into the Spartan zone and beat junior goalie Katharyn Dembowski (Elkridge, Md.) with a 20-foot wrist shot.
Freshman Jessica Spindle (Smithtown, N.Y.) provided the only scoring of the opening two period when her shot from the left point found its way off USM rookie goalie Nikki Lauziere (Milton, Vt.) and into the goal for her first career goal at 16:16 of the first period.
Dembowski stopped 23 of 24 shots she faced while Lauziere made 20 saves in her first collegiate start.
Southern Maine is back in action on Tuesday (7:00 p.m.) when it hosts in-state rival Colby College for a non-conference game. Castleton is off until December 2 when it will host the University of Massachusetts Boston.
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