WORCESTER, Mass. - The Rivier women's ice hockey team saw its historic season come to a close Friday evening in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC)

Championship, falling to Worcester St., 3-2, at the Worcester Ice Arena in a hard-fought battle.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Following a back-and-forth opening as both teams jockeyed for possession, the Raiders struck first. Junior Haylie Grossmann did just enough to keep the puck alive at the blue line before sliding a pass to sophomore Keegan McGaheran, who fired from the left circle and slipped the puck glove side to give Rivier a 1-0 lead with 6:31 remaining in the opening period.
• Rivier killed off a penalty midway through the second frame, but Worcester St. kept the pressure on in the offensive zone. After junior Taylor Bruno denied two Lancer chances from in close, Leyla Tiernan eventually found the equalizer, firing home the tying goal at the 11:15 mark.
• The Raiders regained the lead just five minutes later as senior Olivia Schultz caught the Lancers' defensive line deep and set up a two-on-one, finding first-year Marina Bassett. Bassett then delivered a backhanded pass to first-year Chloe Bryda, who finished from the slot to give Rivier a 2-1 advantage heading into the second intermission.
• Worcester State killed off an early third-period Rivier power play, limiting the Raiders to just one shot. The Lancers then capitalized on their own power-play opportunity as Leyla Tiernan buried a shot into the bottom left corner, assisted by Madelyn Franta and Avery Ireland, tying the game at 2-2 at the 6:55 mark.
• Just 3:17 later, Franta deflected in the eventual game-winning goal off a feed from Ireland.

BOX SCORE BREAKDOWN

• The Lancers outshot the Raiders, 47-31.
• Bruno made 44 stops in the outing.
• Bassett paced the team with six shots, followed by Bryda with four.
• Rivier won 30 of the 58 faceoffs. First-year Casey Roth won 8-of-13 (61.5%) of her faceoffs.