PITTSBURGH, PA- Freshman Lauren Patterson (Burlington, Ontario/Oakville) netted the game winner with 1:44 left in regulation to lift the Utica College women’s hockey team to a 4-3 victory over host Chatham University in ECAC West Conference action Friday evening. Freshman Lauren Patterson (Burlington, Ontario/Oakville) and Junior Gabrielle Schnepp (Northville, MI/Belle Tire) led UC with three points each.
The Pioneers, winners of five straight, improve to 14-5-1 on the year and 10-2-1 in the conference. Chatham, meanwhile, drops to 6-12-1 (2-10-1 ECAC West). The teams wrap up the season series Saturday at 3 p.m.
Chatham jumped out to a 1-0 lead at 7:24 of the first as Erika Martin fired a shot into the top right corner for her fifth of the year. Katrina Hawkins was credited with the assist on the Cougars’s first goal. The Pioneers responded just three minutes later as junior Gabrielle Schnepp (Northville, MI/Belle Tire) redirected a shot from Lauren Patterson (Burlington, Ontario/Oakville) past Cougar goalie Sydney Isbell for her tenth goal of the season.
The Cougars regained the lead at 10:01 of the second period as McKenzie Haskins buried a breakaway opportunity for her first score of the season. Kasandra Petersen assisted on the play.
The Pioneers came out flying for the third period as they scored two goals in the first 2:25. First, senior Morgan Reed (Fort Myers, FL/Cushing Academy) put in a rebound on a 2-on-1 for her team-leading 17th goal of the year. Patterson and Schnepp picked up the assists. Then, just 1:46 later, sophomore Samantha Husak (Jackson, MI/Grass Lake) put the Pioneers up 3-2 as she found the back of the net for her second of the year. Emily Coope (Phoenix, AZ/Colorado Tigers) and Taylor Osowski (Highlands Ranch, CO/Colorado Selects) registered the assists.
A Chatham timeout seemed to spark the home team as the Cougars tied it up at 4:11 of the third as Haskins converted on the power play for her second goal of the evening, assisted by Hawkins. Then, with the clock winding down, Paterson walked out of the corner and ripped a shot short side over the glove of Isbell for her ninth of the season. Schnepp, and sophomore Veronique Lortie (Chambly, Quebec/Berkshire School) assisted on Patterson’s team-best third game-winner.
Sophomore Amanda Lupo (Auburn, NY/Skaneateles) made 27 saves in net as she improved to 3-1, while Isbell stopped 42 shots for Chatham.
