UTICA, NY – The nationally-ranked No. 8 Utica College women's hockey team completed the weekend sweep of visiting Buffalo St. with a 2-1 victory Sunday afternoon in ECAC West Conference action.

Entering Sunday's contest the Pioneers had outscored conference opponents 42-5 at the Utica Memorial Auditorium this season. Three of the five goals were scored by the Bengals last night.

Freshman goalie Jill Doherty (Wellesley, MA/Kents Hill) got the nod between the pipes marking her third start of the season. Going into the game she had allowed just one goal in two games and led the Pioneers with a team-best .50 goals against average and a .968 save percentage.

Doherty and Shannon Anesetti (Erie Lady Lions/Canonsburg, PA) stole the show in the first period as both teams entered the locker room scoreless at the first intermission. Anesetti fended off several good scoring chances for the Bengals and UC held a 13-2 shot advantage at the end of the first.

A slow second period put momentum in the hands of the Bengals, who had several good scoring opportunities, including seven shots on goal. Doherty proved she had earned the right to be in net stopping all seven shots with the confidence of a savvy veteran goaltender. Anesetti continued to shine in net for Buffalo St. turning away nine Pioneer shots in her tenth start of the season.

UC dominated the first seven minutes of the third period and they were finally rewarded when Courtney Bank (Saginaw, MI/) ripped a slap shot from just inside the blue line that snuck past Anesetti. UC's first goal of the evening came on a five-on-three power play and was scored 6:43 into the third period. Andrea Maxon (Canton, NY/Hugh C. Williams) was credited with the assist on Bank's fifth goal of the season.

The Bengals evened the score just over five minutes later when a Mary Cohen took a wrist shot that deflected off UC defender Amanda McDonnell's (Sagamore Beach, MA/) skate into the net. Cohen's fourth goal of the season came 11:57 into the third period.

The Pioneers took a 2-1 lead with just under seven minutes left in the game when Wiegand found Stephanie Price (River Rouge, MI/) for the one-timer that lit the lamp and proved to be the game-winner. Price's 19th goal of the season is tops on the team.

The Bengals pulled Anesetti with 15 seconds left and the puck in their end to get the extra skater on the ice. They had an excellent scoring opportunity with three seconds left but Doherty made a terrific glove save on Samantha Simpson (UW-Superior/Fairbanks, AK) right in front of the net as the final buzzer sounded.

Doherty improved to 3-0 on the season while stopping 17 shots for the Pioneers. Anesetti made 39 stops on the evening and is now 2-6-1 in net for the Bengals.

UC improved to 14-4-3 overall and 6-2-2 in conference play, while the Bengals dropped to 7-13-1 overall and 5-7-0 in conference.

The Pioneers return to action in a key conference weekend series against host Neumann College beginning next Friday at 7 p.m. Buffalo St. hosts conference foe Elmira Friday for their final weekend series of the regular season. The puck is scheduled to drop at 7 p.m.
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