GENEVA, N.Y. - The Neumann University women's ice hockey team battled to its second consecutive tie at William Smith College with a 3-3 stalemate versus the Herons in Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) West action on Sunday afternoon.
 
Bek Lucas provided the offensive punch for the Knights, playing a part in each Neumann goal on the day (2 goals, 1 assist). Grace Klienbach also added a goal and an assist in the tie, while Julia Fair was stellar in net, making 50 saves on 53 shots.
 
The first period would see the Knights jump out to an early lead. Lucas scored just 4:11 into the first frame off a nice feed from Jillian Crane to put Neumann out in front. William Smith would take over from there though, outshooting the Knights by a count of 19-10 in the period. The Herons would knot the game up on a power play midway through the period, and the game would head to intermission tied at 1-1.
 
Neumann would take over control of the game in the second stanza. The Knights would throw 12 shots towards the Herons goal in the frame and would finally be rewarded late in the period as Lucas added her second goal of the game at the 14:41 mark. Neumann would keep applying pressure in the William Smith end and added a third goal just three minutes later as Klienbach tallied her twelfth goal of the season to give the Knights a two goal cushion headed to the third and final period.
 
The Knights would hold off the Herons for a bulk of the final frame, but William Smith would begin to find momentum in the second half of the period. The Herons found life at the 12:38 mark of the third, scoring a goal to cut the deficit to 3-2. The game would head to the final minutes with Neumann still up a goal, but a William Smith tally with just 1:08 left to play would send the game to overtime for the second consecutive day.
 
William Smith would dominate the extra period, outshooting Neumann by a count of 9-1. Despite the overtime onslaught, steady goaltending from Fair would keep the game tied and give the Knights another point in the conference standings.
 
Neumann (6-10-3, 2-7-3 ECAC West) heads to Buffalo State next weekend for a pair of games against the Bengals. The first matchup between the two teams is scheduled for Friday, February 3^rd at 7:00 PM.