First, Ciarletta relinquished her career-old shutout streak against the Eagles –after she had laid three goose eggs in as many confrontations over her sophomore and junior campaigns- at the game clock age of 199:21. Translation: 39 seconds short of 10 consecutive shutout periods.
But after her teammates absolved that drawback, plus another at 4:27 of the second, Ciarletta ultimately earned an invitation to whitewash the bittersweet finish to her previous outing. Three weeks prior, when she put in her last active appearance at Boston University, she submitted a 0-for-3 save rate in the shootout and spilled an extra point for the Friars in the Hockey East standings.
Uncannily enough, after giving way to Genevieve Lacasse for the next four outings, Ciarletta was the crease custodian on duty for PC’s next 65-minute-tie-enforced shootout. And this time, she fended off the likes of Melanie Mills, Emilie Castonguay, and Ashley Riggs, thereby pacing Erin Normore to the last-round clincher.
Ciarletta’s responsiveness was inessential on Mills’ attempt in the first round as it shanked wide of the left post. Castonguay gave a whirl at a Nathan Gerbe impression, turning her back to the cage halfway through her straightaway stride, only to see her thrust brush off Ciarletta’s trapper and drop over the cage.
Riggs, Niagara’s top gun, offered a harrowingly soapier, ice-kissing shot that initially eluded Ciarletta’s clutch and partially trickled to the top of the goal line before the goalie lashed out her right boot to clog it.
Both Laura Veharanta and Ashley Cottrell –who had each singed BU’s Allyse Wilcox three weeks back- fell short in their shootout strides for the Friars this time. Niagara’s Jenni Bauer tilted Veharanta’s attempt to her right and got a piece of Cottrell’s tricky floater before flopping back to wrest it from the jaws of the goal.
Morris’ milestone
Upon delving into her first shift last night, senior forward Stephanie Morris became the 60th female skater on record to have worn game-time Friar attire at least 100 times.
Upon delving into her first shift last night, senior forward Stephanie Morris became the 60th female skater on record to have worn game-time Friar attire at least 100 times.
With that, all four members of this season’s graduating class who have stuck around for the full four-year time limit (Morris, Katy Beach, Erin Normore, Brittany Simpson) have fastened their membership in the 100-game club.
Juniors Colleen Martin and Pam McDevitt both have legitimate potential to hop aboard themselves before this season is up.
Quick Feeds: For the second consecutive night, a pair of too many players citations were distributed. Niagara was caught at 2:21 of the first, whilst laboring on their first power play no less, and the Friars at 17:31. On Friday, visiting Mercyhurst had been caught with an unauthorized six-pack of skaters at 15:16 of the first and 2:49 of the third…Both the first and second periods commenced in virtually the same fashion. Ciarletta shuffled out of her crease to play a relatively light Niagara dump-in, effectively etching them a shot on net both times…The starting line of Cottrell, Veharanta, and Alyse Ruff, combined for 18 of PC’s 41 registered shots last night…The Friars salvaged their all-time unbeaten transcript in visits from the Purple Eagles, who are now 0-5-4 in drop-ins to Schneider Arena since the birth of their program in 1998.
Al Daniel can be reached at hockeyscribe@hotmail.com
This article originally appeared in the Friartown Free Press
