Lewiston, ME – CMCC Women's Hockey completed its three-game season series with crosstown rival Bates College, falling to the Bobcats for the second time in five days, 4-2. The Mustangs led by a goal in the third period before their IWCHL opponent rallied with three unanswered tallies at Underhill Arena.
Meredith Tangney put the hosts on top, 1-0 just under ten minutes into the first period. Emma Rudy and April McCall won a battle in the corner before sliding the puck through the slot and up to the right point. Tangney roofed a wrist shot through traffic and past a screened Tatum Hunt in net for the early lead.
Central Maine tied things up late in the period with a power play goal. Lauren Hanlon's shot from the left point was blocked off a skate but came to Kylie Boardman down low. The alternate captain fed Emma Knowles at the top of the crease. Her first shot was stopped by goaltender Abby Ziehl's left pad, but the Manchester, ME native stayed with it to bang home her 15th goal of the season on the rebound. That made it 1-1 with 1:41 left on the clock.
In the second, CMCC took its first lead of the night. Knowles won a race to the corner to negate an icing before finding Kylee Spugnardi in the slot. The Mustangs captain cut to her forehand before roofing a shot into the top corner over Ziehl's glove. It was the Red Hornets product's team-leading 20th goal of the campaign to give the visitors a 2-1 lead heading into the intermission.
The Mustangs started a parade of players to the penalty box in the final frame, giving Bates a chance to get back into it. Sydney Bernstein tied the game 2-2 with 7:55 remaining on a powerplay strike. The forward kept the puck in at the blue line and slipped a shot underneath Hunt through a screen to even things up.
They took the lead less than a minute later. The goaltender lost an edge after a wrist shot went wide of the net. Miranda Eisenman took advantage to wrap around to the far post and tuck the puck home for a 3-2 lead. Bernstein then added an insurance marker a minute after the go-ahead goal. She scored her second in quick succession with a one-timer from the right circle to make it 4-2 Bobcats.
That was enough to earn Bates the win, improving the team to 9-3-0 on the season and taking the season series against Central Maine two wins to one. The Bobcats from Lewiston proved to be a good catalyst for the Auburn-based Mustangs in the program's inaugural season, with some great hockey played throughout the winter.
The loss drops CMCC to 6-4-0 on the campaign heading into their final contests on the road. The team still hopes to make up a game with fellow first-year team Colby College in Waterville before heading on the road for games against Colby-Sawyer and Dartmouth College on February 15th and 16th.
