Vikings Open Home Slate With 3-1 Victory

SALEM, Mass. --  Salem State scored three third period goals and Isabelle Woodward (Ottawa, Ontario) made 34 saves to lead the Vikings to a  3-1 victory over Johnson & Wales in their home opener on Friday evening at Rockett Arena. Salem State picks up their first win of the season and improve to 1-2 in the New England Hockey Conference. The Wildcats remain winless at 0-5 and 0-3 in the NEHC.

Johnson & Wales outshot Salem State 13-11 in the first period, but both goalies held each team in check until Samantha Kawejsza (Warners, N.Y.) skated in from the left wing and ripped a shot past Woodward for a 1-0 Wildcats' lead at the 15:47 mark of the first.    

Both teams registered 11 shots on net in the second, but neither team added to the scoreboard as the Wildcats took a one-goal lead into the third.

The Vikings began to play more aggressively in the third, taking a period-high 13 shots in the final frame. Meghan Concannon (Raynham, Mass.) tied the game for Salem State four minutes in as she beat goalie Jasmine Mucci (Arlington, Mass.) stick-side from just inside the circle. Less than a minute later, Jacqueline Sindoris (Charlestown, Mass.) punched in the eventual game winner as she beat Mucci to the puck and stuffed it in inside the left post. Woodward made the lead hold up a she made several crucial saves in the final minutes.

Amanda Giles (Merrimack, N.H.) iced the game with Salem State's second power-play goal of the period at the 19:37 mark of the third.

Mucci stopped 35 shots in the loss for the Wildcats, who went 0-3 on the power-play.