PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Alexis Thomas (Barnstable, Mass.) scored 9:44 into overtime as #9 Salem State stunned #8 Plymouth State 4-3 in the first round of the New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) women's ice hockey tournament at Hanaway Rink on Wednesday night. Thomas deflected a pass at the blue line and skated the puck in all alone, slipping in the game-winner past goalie Amelia Julian (Apple Valley, Minn.). The Vikings (6-19-0) advance to face top-seeded and #3 nationally ranked Elmira College in the quarterfinal round on Saturday. The Panthers end their season with a 7-17-1 mark.

Salem State opened the scoring at the 4:31 mark of the first period when freshman Tea Miles' (Northfield, Vt.) scored the first of her two goals, as her shot from the point deflected off the far side post and in during the game's first power play opportunity. The Panthers answered back almost immediately as junior Addie Swanson (Eagle River, Alaska) banged home the rebound of a deep shot from classmate Abigale McGee (Bozeman, Mont.) just over a minute later.

Julian came up with a huge save going post-to-post during another Vikings' power play nine minutes in. Later, in the same power play, Miles struck again when her shot from just inside the blue line deflected off a PSU skater and over Julian's shoulder to make it 2-1 at 10:01.

Plymouth State pulled even 7:28 into the middle period when Siri Brett (East Wenatchee, Wash.) stole a puck in the offensive zone. Sophomore Carsen Moffett (Kamloops, British Columbia) poked it to Chantelle Ross (Ottawa, Ontario), who beat Hollingsworth low to the stick side. Brett gave the Panthers their first lead six minutes later when she slipped behind the Salem State goal and stuffed in a wraparound bid to make it 3-2.

Salem State came back to square the game at 3-3 when senior MacKenzie Mallett (York, Maine) snuck a wrister over the glove of Julian from the nearside faceoff dot with 1:56 left in the second period.

Freshman Libby Carter (Franklin, Mass.) had a prime chance to put the Panthers back in the lead midway through the third when she skated down the near side on a breakaway, but a Vikings' defender dove across the ice to block the shot and the game would head into overtime.

Plymouth State had incredible zone pressure to open the extra frame, but Hollingsworth made several incredible stops to preserve the tie. 

The Panthers dominated the offensive zone during the extra frame and were on the doorstep several times, but Salem State sophomore goaltender Kaia Hollingsworth (Methuen, Mass.) made several key stops to keep the game deadlocked at 3-3.

Hollingsworth finished with 37 saves for the Vikings, who won their first-ever post-season game. Julian made 23 saves for Plymouth State, which held a 40-27 advantage in shots.

(Contributions from Plymouth State Sports Information)