Auburn, ME – CMCC Women's Hockey began its rivalry with crosstown twin cities opponent Bates College in dramatic fashion, coming from behind for a 3-2 overtime victory against the Bobcats on Saturday night at Norway Savings Bank Arena. Captain Kylee Spugnardi scored all three goals to pick up the hat trick including the game-winner with 58 seconds left in overtime.

The Mustangs remain undefeated in their inaugural season at 5-0-0 after their second overtime victory of the campaign. Emma Knowles picked up assists on all three of Spugnardi's tallies, while the captain from Turner, ME now sits at 11 goals on the season with two straight hat tricks.

However, it looked for quite a while like Central Maine's perfect start to the year might come to an end. Bates took the lead with 58 seconds left in the first period on an Anna Weaver goal. Perrin Hill won a battle along the boards, sending the puck in front for Leif Thesen. Her backhand shot went wide of goaltender Tatum Hunt's left pad, allowing Weaver to tap it in for the 1-0 lead.

There was no scoring in the second period despite the Mustangs best efforts. CMCC put 30 shots on target through the first two 17-minute long periods of play, but could not find a way past goaltender Abby Ziehl. The Blake School product from Minnesota was in fine form to deny several attempts in close from Spugnardi and Knowles.

Bates doubled its lead 3:20 into the third period. Defenseman Meredith Tangney out of the Winsor School corralled a pass from behind the net by Emma Rudy. Her look from the high slot appeared to glance off the stick of Jenna Buda who attempted to block the shot. The result was a deflected effort that skipped past a screened Hunt in the crease.

Running out of time, Central Maine looked to its offensive leaders to find a way back into the hockey game. When the break through finally came, the goals came in quick succession.

A power play tally cut the deficit in half with 6:19 to play. Fiona Landry took a shot from the right point that snuck through the skates of Rudy and towards the top of the crease. Knowles poked her stick out and redirected the puck to the back post where a wide open Spugnardi backhanded it home to make it 2-1.

Less than a minute later the game was tied at 2-2. Knowles won a battle along the end boards to control the puck, wheeled out of the left corner and snapped a shot that went off of Ziehl's glove. Spugnardi had dutifully gone to the net in case of a rebound, and was on hand to dive headlong towards the crease and swat the puck in, sending a packed Norway Savings Bank Arena into a frenzy.

Bates head coach Jon Anctil took his timeout to calm his team down, and after a last-second penalty against both teams for roughing, the game was headed to a sudden-death, five-minute overtime.

Both teams had chances to win it in the three-on-three extra frame. The Mustangs peppered Ziehl with shots in the first two minutes without success. Landry then blew a tire at center ice allowing Weaver to skate in on the breakaway. The forward deked to her backhand but Hunt got her glove to it for a game-saving stop, and the rebound went wide through the crease. Knowles raced the other way for a breakaway of her own only to see Ziehl get the pads down for a butterfly stop. Zoe Ash had a chance to win it for Bates with 1:40 left but her backhand shot went wide.

With both teams exhausted, Spugnardi poke-checked the puck free in her own zone and lugged it down the left wing for a two-on-one. Her pass across gave Knowles an open look from the right circle. Ziehl made the blocker save but the rebound came straight across the crease to Spugnardi. The former EL/Leavitt/Poland Red Hornets captain made no mistake, sweeping the puck in on the backhand for a dramatic 3-2 victory.

CMCC heads across the bridge to Lewiston to face Bates on January 17^th. In the meantime, Central Maine now steps away from IWCHL play for its next three games. The Mustangs visit Hebron Academy for an exhibition with the NEPSAC school on Tuesday, November 19^th. They return to Norway Savings Bank Arena to face the Saint Joseph's College of Maine Monks on Sunday, November 24^th before hosting a return visit from the Hebron Lumberjacks on December 4^th.