NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Connecticut College women's ice hockey team raced out to a 5-0 lead, before holding on to defeat No. 14 Bowdoin 5-2 on Friday night from Dayton Arena. With the win Conn improves to 10-10-1 overall and 6-8-1 in conference play, while Bowdoin falls to 13-7-1 on the year and 7-6-0 in NESCAC play.

Both teams started slowly, feeling each other out, before Christine Oar (Scituate, Mass.) forced the first save of the game from Abby Matusovich. Bowdoin answered with the next two shots, but Devon Galizio (Wayland, Mass.) answered the early challenge. With just under two and a half minutes left in the opening frame, the Camels opened the scoring. Charlotte Harris (Ystrad Mynach, Wales) and Bridget McGann (West Hartford, Conn.) hooked up before finding Serena Seiple (Wilmette, Ill.) who gave Conn the 1-0 lead after one.

Conn had a good chance five minutes into the period to extend the lead, after earning a power play, as the Camels put four shots on goal, but Matusovich stood tall. At 9:15, Conn doubled the advantage. After McGann had her shot stopped, the rebound fell to Harris who poked it past Matusovich. Just 27 seconds later, the Camels added another goal. Claire Sammons (Naperville, Ill.) played a pass up to Oar, who played it for Alana Burm (Hingham, Mass.), Burm used some nifty stick work before firing home to put Conn up 3-0 heading to the third. 

Burm tallied her second goal of the contest early in the third period, as Sammons and Casey Chesner (Great Falls, Va.) hooked up the helpers. Five minutes later, Ashley Engle (Basking Ridge, N.J.) picked off a puck at center ice, before streaking in and firing over the glove of Matusovich to push the lead to 5-0. Just 30 seconds later, Bowdoin got on the board as Emma Merrill found the back of the net for the Polar Bears. With six minutes remaining, Bowdoin got a second goal as Kiley Briand made it 5-2. Conn closed out the final minutes to earn their third ranked victory of the season.

Conn outshot Bowdoin 35-21, while the Polar Bears held a 24-19 edge on face-off wins.

Galizio picked up the win in net, finishing with 18 saves in 55 minutes of action, before Maeve Corcoran (Milton, Mass.) played the final five minutes making one save. Four different Camels tallied multiple points, as Burm scored two goals, Harris added a goal and an assist, and both McGann and Sammons chipped in two assists. Engle and Seiple both notched one goal, while Chesner, Sofia Donnelly (Ringwood, N.J.), and Oar rounded out the scoring with one assist each. Engle led the way winning seven face-offs, while Conn went 2-2 on the penalty kill and 0-3 on the power play.

Matusovich finished with 30 saves in the Bowdoin net. Briand paced the Polar Bears with a goal and an assist, while Merrill and Anyi Sun added a goal and an assist respectively. Bowdoin finished 0-2 on the power play and 3-3 on the penalty kill.

Conn wraps up NESCAC play tomorrow afternoon as the Camels close out the weekend series with Bowdoin at 3:00 p.m. in Dayton Arena.