PITTSBURGH — Junior Nikolle Van Stralen scored a pair of goals and goaltender Adrianna Brehm had 33 saves for the visiting Golden Flyers Saturday as Nazareth defeated Chatham, 4-1, in the semifinals of the United Collegeiate Hockey Conference playoffs for women’s hockey.
Nazareth improved to 8-1 overall with its eighth straight win. Chatham finishes at 7-6. The Golden Flyers will visit Elmira Tuesday for the UCHC title game at 7 p.m. The top-seeded Soaing Eagles improved to 11-1 overall Saturday with a 3-0 win over Manhattanville.
On Saturday, the Golden Flyers defeated Chatham for the third time this season as Van Stralen scored midway through the opening period and again early in the second period. Madison Nichols also scored for the Godlen Flyers in the second period as Nazareth built a commanding 3-0 lead.
Chatham got on the board late in the third period with an extra skater on the ice, but Nazareth tacked on an empty-net goal with just under two minutes left as Makenna Wiljanen converted an unassisted tally.
Van Stralen’s first goal came off assists from Keeley Rose and Anibella Barona, who secured her first point of the season. In the second period, Maria DeCresce was credited with an assist for her first point of the season.
Nichols’ fifth goal of the season in the second period came off an assist from Gabriella DeMeo and tied her with Wiljanen and Abbey Luth for the team lead.
Brehm was steady in goal with 15 of her 33 saves coming in the thrid period.
