BOSTON, Mass. - The University of Massachusetts Boston women's ice hockey team tallied five goals in the third period to capture a 6-4 victory over Bowdoin this afternoon at the Clark Athletic Center on the campus of UMass Boston as part of the Fourth Annual Codfish Bowl Women's Hockey Tournament. The Polar Bears (6-3-0) will face Saint Mary's University in the consolation game at 1:00 p.m. Monday.

Senior forward Rachel Sousa scored a pair of goals and added an assist to pace the comeback for UMass-Boston. Shelagh Merrill scored a pair of goals for the Polar Bears in defeat.

Bowdoin jumped out in front at 9:15 of the first period on a goal by sophomore forward Kayte Holtz. Holtz buried her team-leading sixth of the season on a slap shot to the top corner of the cage on a pass from senior winger Jill Campbell and freshman defenseman Emily Tang. The Beacons did not mange to put a shot on goal for the first seven minutes of the contests, but were still able to keep the shot total close at 13-9 and the lead within reach at 1-0.

Junior forward Dominique Lozzi created the Polar Bears second score with some great puck handling and ultimately gave her team a 2-0 advantage. Lozzi skated through several UMass Boston players going from circle to circle in the Beacons zone and then fired a pass towards the net that was redirected by junior forward Shelagh Merrill 4:16 into the second. The Beacons cut into the lead at 14:01 when senior winger Lauren Duran netted her fourth goal of the season. Sousa earned the assist with a beautiful pass onto the blade of Duran's stick which was then one-timed into the net. Junior blueliner Brittany Usmail was also credited with an assist on the play. The Polar Bears reestablished at two-goal lead at the 10:45 mark when Merrill tallied her second of the contest and fifth of the year with the assists going to senior Michaela Calnan and freshman Madeline Lane to make it a 3-1 contest.

The Beacons turned the game around in the third period with five goals to capture the improbable win. Sousa collected her team-leading fifth of the season 7:27 into the stanza when she backhanded the rebound of a shot by senior forward Katie Kirwan. Usmail was also credited with an assist giving the forward her second point of the contest. Just 46 seconds later, senior winger Kristen Smith tied the game at 3-3 when she hooked up with sophomore forward Alli Greenberg, burying a slap shot for her fifth goal of the campaign. The line struck again at the 10:56 mark as Greenberg broke free with a pass from Smith and lit the lamp to give the home squad its first lead of the afternoon at 4-3.

The Polar Bears clawed back as Tang struck with a goal with just over four minutes to play with Campbell setting up the equalizer to even the score at 4-4 but just 25 seconds later, UMass Boston recaptured the lead on Souza's second goal of the afternoon to go ahead, 5-4. Kirwan and Smith picked up the assists on the game-winner. To cap the scoring, freshman winger Sarahanne Cavolo fired a puck on its edge that turned into the empty net to seal the win from her own zone with 13 seconds left in the contest.

Between the pipes, junior goalie Leah Hallet picked up the win with 34 saves for UMass Boston, while junior goaltender Sage Santangelo tallied 24 stops for Bowdoin.

BOX SCORE:
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