(with contributions from Castleton State Sports Information)

ECAC Women's East Tournament - Quarterfinal Round
Kelly Stops 30 Shots; Pearl Nets Huskies' Lone Goal

            RUTLAND, Vt. -- Freshman Hannah Rose (Kenora, Ont.) scored at 15:17 of sudden-death overtime to give the fourth-seeded Castleton State College Spartans a hard-fought, 2-1 victory over the visiting fifth-seeded University of Southern Maine Huskies Saturday in a first-round playoff game of the 2015 ECAC Women's East Championships Tournament at Spartan Arena.

            The victory moves the Spartans into next weekend's semifinals against an opponent to be determined pending the outcomes of other first round games.  The Spartans improved to 13-11 2 on the season.  The Huskies are eliminated from the eight-team, single-elimination tournament and finished the season 8-15-3 overall.

            Rose took advantage of a set up from junior Anna Daniels (Falun, Sweden) and senior Molly Howard (Shelburne, Vt.) to slip a shot inside the far post past USM junior goalie Nia Kelly (Santa Rosa, Calif.) for the game-winning goal.

            The Spartans took a 1-0 at 5:25 of the first period as freshman Brianna Keats (Calgary, Alberta) scored her eighth goal of the season,  Keats converted from junior Rachel Bombardier (Pittsford, Vt.) and sophomore Lisa Kilroy (Leominster, Mass.).

            Senior Julia Pearl (Essex Jct., Vt.) equalized for the Huskies early in the second period scoring a power-play goal at 3:31.  The goal, coming off a rebound, was the eighth of the season for Pearl.  Junior Chelsea Boucher (Gilford, N.H.) earned the lone assist on the play.

            The game settled into a battle of the goaltenders as Kelly and Castleton State senior Paula Stephens (Seattle, Wash.) matched saves for 51 minutes after Pearl's goal.  Kelly finished with 30 saves while Stephens stopped 21 shots.

            Kilroy had a golden chance to reclaim the lead for the Spartans in the second period, but Kelly managed to hold her position in front of the near post and make the save to keep the score even.  The USM netminder was at it again with less than five minutes remaining in the period as she made a spectacular save to deny Keats.  After a Huskie turnover, Kilroy skated around the back of the net and slipped a backhand pass to Keats in the crease, but Kelly made a post-to-post move to reject the effort and preserve the 1-1 tie.

            The best chance of the third period came when Kelly skated into the crease to knock a puck from danger and her clearance pass was intercepted by Rose, but the freshman forward's shot deflected off the goalie's pads and was cleared away. 

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