Women’s Hockey Draw with Anna Maria, 2-2

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – The MCLA Women's Ice Hockey team welcomed the Anna Maria College AMCATs to the Peter W. Foote Vietnam Veterans Memorial Rink this evening for a MASCAC showdown. With the two teams scheduled to meet again later this week, and currently looking at a first round MASCAC playoff meeting, this was just the first act of a potential trilogy.

THE BASICS:

• Date: Saturday, February 15, 2025
• Score: Anna Maria 2, MCLA 2 (AMC wins shootout 1-0 after three rounds)
• Records: Anna Maria College AMCATs 8-13-2 (MASCAC 5-6-2) | MCLA Trailblazers 9-12-1 (MASCAC 3-8-1)
• Series History: Anna Maria leads the all-time series 4-0-2, including a 4-2 win when the teams last met on November 23, 2024, in North Adams. The AMCATs won the first-ever meeting 3-2 on November 9, 2023, in North Adams.

HIGHLIGHTS

• MCLA put the first point up on the board just past the 15-minute mark when sophomore defenseman Carlen Bertrand (Timmins, ON / Sudbury Wolves) intercepted a centering pass in front of her own net. She turned and brought the puck along the left wing, juked an AMCAT defender at the blue line and attempted to push the puck past the netminder. While the goalie was able to withstand the first effort, she couldn't control the rebound that fell right back at Bertrand's feet for an easy put back. The goal was the sophomore's team-leading 14^th of the season.
• Anna Maria responded in the second period, finding an equalizer as the midpoint of the period approached. Tessa Henry (at 9:05, assisted by Jordyn Bleaney) took a pass from Bleaney near the top of the right face-off circle and lifted a wrist shot into the top of the net.
• The AMCATS then took the lead less than two minutes into the third frame. Ceili Nolan's shot from the left point was turned aside by the Trailblazers sophomore goalie Kaitlyn O'Brien (Ridley Park, PA / Philadelphia Jr. Flyers). O'Brien knocked the puck off her blocker into the corner where Anna Maria's Olympia Myers recovered it. Myers sent it around the back of the net and out to Bleaney at the right point. Bleaney passed it to Nolan at the opposite point and Nolan found Myers (1:50, Nolan and Bleaney) for a one-timer near the right faceoff dot that found its way inside the cage.
• Less than four minutes later, MCLA found an equalizer of their own following a small scrum along the left side boards. First-year defenseman Rozene Sabeti-Seidel (Turner Valley, AB / Rocky Mtn. Raiders) kept the puck in at the blueline and found senior winger Alexandrea Bednar (Vita, MB / Univ. of Wisconsin–Eau Claire) (5:47, Sabeti-Seidel) in the slot for a sniper shot over the goalie's stick side shoulder.
• Despite Anna Maria having a 13-9 edge in shots in the third period, the teams would need bonus hockey and then some to determine a winner. The overtime was an existing five minute stretch of three-on-three hockey in which both teams got off four shots, but both goalies were able to stand tall. The AMCATs would end the night with an extra point, after Bleaney was the only player in the shoot-out to convert her opportunity into a goal.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Shots: Anna Maria 43, MCLA 30
• Saves: Anna Maria 28, MCLA 41
• Faceoffs Won: Anna Maria 28, MCLA 45
• Penalty/Minutes: Anna Maria 4/8:00, MCLA 4/8:00
• Power Plays: Anna Maria 0 for 4, MCLA 0 for 4

UP NEXT:

On Wednesday, MCLA will be back in action when it travels to Anna Maria and the Buffone Arena for a MASCAC re-match with the AMCATs. The puck will drop at 5:40 p.m.

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