GORHAM, Maine -- Junior forward Annie Papadellis (Hopkinton, Mass.) took passes from rookie Katie Tang (Arlington, Mass.) and sophomore forward Lauren Guarente (Wellesley, Mass.) to score what proved to be a game-winning power play goal at 5:31 of the third period to help lift the Colby College Mules women's hockey team past the University of Southern Maine Huskies, 4-2, at USM Ice Arena Tuesday night

            With the win, the Mules improve to 7-12-0 and sweep the season series between the two teams.  The Huskies drop to 4-10-5 with the loss.

            After Colby freshman forward Megan Fortier (Falmouth, Maine) scored her fourth goal of the season 1:54 into the final period to tie the game at 2-2, Guarente took a pass from
Tang on the left side and quickly passed it to Papadellis who beat Southern Maine freshman netminder Jenn Fuller (Houston, B.C.), putting Colby up 3-2 with 14:29 remaining.  The goal was Papadellis' team-leading eighth of the season.

            After a scoreless opening 20 minutes, Tang put the Mules on the board first, taking passes from junior forward Maddy Borek (Durham, N.H.) and freshman forward Maddie Dewhirst (Hanover, N.H.) to score her second goal of the season 2:49 into the second.

            USM responded by scoring two goals in a span of 3:32 to take a 2-1 lead.  Sophomore forward Maggie Lane (Burlington, Mass.) scored USM's first goal redirecting a pass from senior defensemen Katie Davis (Woburn, Mass.) past Colby junior goaltender Brianne Wheeler (Brussels, Ontario) at 3:53 of the second period.  Junior Shannon Cronin (Wakefield, Mass.) also earned an assist.

            Davis scored her second goal of the season from the right faceoff circle at 7:25 to give the Huskies the 2-1 lead.  Senior defensemen Alex Smith (Winthrop, Mass.) and junior defensemen Bridget O'Brien (Boston, Mass.) were credited with assists on Davis' goal.

            Colby stormed back in the third period with thev Fortier and Papadellis goals before getting an insurance power-play insurance goal from Dewhirst with 4:09 remaining in the game to make it 4-2.

            Wheeler, who earned the win making 13 saves on USM's 15 shots on goal, improves to 7-12-0 on the season.  Fuller, who made 19 stops, drops to 1-4-2 in her rookie campaign.

            Southern Maine returns to the ice when it travels to nationally ranked Norwich University for an ECAC Women's East Matchup at Kreitzberg Arena on Friday (4:00 p.m.).  Colby is off until next Tuesday (4:00 p.m.) when it travels to New England College for a non-league game.