NASHUA, N.H. –  The Rivier women's ice hockey team punches its ticket back to the championship with a 4-1 victory over Salem St. in the Massachusetts Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) semi-final round at Conway Arena on Friday night. This marks the first time in program history that the Raiders have hosted a semi-final contest.

With the result, the Raiders improved to 17-9-0, while the Vikings finished 10-14-2.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Through the opening 16:21 of play, both sides traded chances in a fast-paced back-and-forth battle, with the Vikings edging the Raiders in shots, 18-17
• Sophomore Lillian Wojcicki buried a rebound for the first goal of the night, sending the Raiders into the first intermission with the early lead.
• First-year Marina Bassett capitalized on the power play 6:18 into the second frame, finishing a setup from senior Jillian Hallee and fellow first-year Chloe Bryda to extend the Raiders' lead.
• At the 9:22 mark, first-year Lexi Davies knocked in a short-handed goal to put the Raiders up 3-0.
• The Vikings were able to cut the deficit to two with 2:40 left to play in the frame.
• Junior Rebecca McKelvey responded 27 seconds later to restore the three-goal lead, connecting with senior Jessica Driscoll going into the final intermission.
• Junior Taylor Bruno turned aside all 10 shots she faced in the final frame, sealing the 4–1 victory and punching the Raiders' ticket to the MASCAC Championship Game.

BOX SCORE BREAKDOWN

• Salem St. narrowly outshot Rivier 33-32.
• Bruno recorded 32 saves in the outing.
• The Raiders had four different goal scorers.
• The Raiders blocked 15 shots to the Vikings' 12.
• Junior Tia Picardi and Wojcicki each had a team-high three shots blocked.
• The Raiders held a 33-26 faceoff advantage.

UP NEXT

The Raiders are headed to the MASCAC Championship game against No.1 seed Worcester St. on Friday, March 7, with puck drop set for 7:20 p.m. at the Worcester Ice Center.