Scoring a big goal in a big moment — it is what every player dreams of and it is why Guy Perron recruited Patricia Gagnon.
The first year player netted her third goal in four games with 1:16 left in the third period as Maine (11-5-6, 3-5-4 Hockey East) skated to a 2-2 against the No.9 Providence (13-7-4, 7-2-2) on Sunday at the Alfond Arena.
“We had a really good test against UNH last weekend and then we went to Vermont and won a hard game,” said Maine coach Guy Perron. “If you want to be a top 10 team in the country, then you are going to have to play against top 10 teams.”
Heading into the third period, the Black Bears held a 1-0 lead. A few minutes into the period, Friar defenseman Kristin Gigilotti played a pass to Ashley Payton, who put a shot on net that deflected off Maine netminder Genevieve Turgeon. Once the puck rebounded off Turgeon, it went into the back of the net to tie the game at 1-1.
With less than nine minutes to go in the period, Gigilotti ripped her trademark shot from the blue line to beat Turgeon for the 2-1 lead that the Friars could not hold.
In overtime, the Black Bears created their first scoring opportunity just 50 seconds into the period as a 2-on-1 break led by Vanessa Vani was stopped by a save from Jana Budgen.
The last major scoring opportunity both teams had came with seven seconds left when last season’s Hockey East Co-Player of the Year Karen Thatcher almost scored on a breakaway.
“Our goalie came up big for them in OT and so did theirs in the last few seconds,” said Providence coach Bob Deraney. “No one wanted a tie, we both wanted to win.”
Before Thatcher’s breakaway, both teams had players to leave the ice as a quarrel ensued between Gigliotti and Kelly Law. Once the two defensemen got together, they had to be separated, and Law was ultimately pinned down on the ice.
“Yesterday we scored ten seconds into the overtime, and we wanted to repeat that,” Giglotti said. “As for the end of the game, both teams went hard and it was just a gutsy effort by both squads.”
