ST. PAUL, Minn. – The UW-Stevens Point women's hockey team (6-4-1) christened 2018 with a 5-4 overtime victory over College of Saint Benedict (1-9-1) at the brand new TRIA Rink at the Treasure Island Center on Friday night.
 
The Pointers saw the Blazers strike first with a tally just 2:39 into the game.   CSB held that one-goal edge after one period of play.
 
Cara Lemirande (Janesville, WI/Madison Capitols) pulled UWSP even just 1:54 into the second period.  Her fourth goal of the season was an unassisted tally.
 
The Blazers responded with goals at 7:39 and 9:10 of the second frame to hold a 3-1 lead heading to the third.
 
Ali Biagini (Stillwater, MN/Stillwater) scored her team-leading fifth goal of the season at the 1:40 mark to cut the deficit to 3-2.  Senior captain Ellie Punnett (Hailey, ID/Athol Murray College of Notre Dame) recorded her first assist of the night on the goal.
 
Alex Grubbs (Minong, WI/Spooner) netted a game-tying goal midway through the third, her second of the season, an unassisted goal.
 
At 16:15 of the third, Lexi Englund (White Bear Lake, MN/White Bear Lake) gave the Pointers a 4-3 lead with Lemirande and Maddie Schlossmacher (Roseville, MN/Roseville) assisting on the goal.  The lead was short-lived as CSB tied the game at 4-4 less than a minute later.
 
UWSP killed off the only penalty of the game as the contest headed to overtime.  Just over a minute into the extra period, Maddie Monroe (Aurora, IL/Batavia) scored the game-winner from Biagini and Punnett.  It was Monroe's second goal of the season and second overtime winner on the season.
 
The Pointers return to action on Saturday (Jan. 6) at 3:00 p.m. at TRIA Rink to face Hamline at 3:00 p.m.