UTICA, N.Y. – The Neumann University women's hockey team kept its hot streak rolling, winning its fifth consecutive game and third straight United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) contest by a score of 3-1 on the road at Utica College on Friday afternoon.

Helen Cooney was magnificent in goal on the afternoon, stopping 48 saves in the win. Jordyn Cholish, Lauren Vanstone and Bek Lucas all scored for Neumann, who moved to the top of the UCHC standings with a spotless 3-0 record. With the third goal of the game, Lucas also tied the program record for career goals with the 56^th tally of her stellar career as a Knight.

Following a familiar script from previous success this season, the Knights used timely scoring and excellent goaltending to lead them on the day. The first period saw the Knights jump out to an early lead as Cholish found the back of the net midway through the frame off assists from Zoe Harkins and Steph Grundy. Neumann has made a habit of scoring first in the team's current six-game unbeaten run (5-0-1), tallying the first goal in five of those six contests. Despite trailing Utica 12-9 in shots in the opening 20 minutes, the Knights headed to intermission holding onto a 1-0 lead.

As the game moved to the second stanza, Cooney would play the key role in keeping the Knights in front. Utica threw 18 shots at the Neumann goal in the period, but the sophomore net-minder stymied the Pioneers on every attempt. Gaining momentum from Cooney's sensational effort in goal, the Knights again found a timely goal, as Vanstone scored with just over two minutes left to play to give the team a 2-0 lead heading into the final period of play.

Down by a pair of goals, Utica came out flying in the third looking to get back into the game. The Pioneers cut the lead to 2-1 at the 8:29 mark of the period, but Lucas' team-leading 11^th goal of the season just four minutes later regained the two-goal advantage for Neumann and quickly put a damper on the Utica comeback attempt. With the lead back to two, Cooney shut the door the rest of the way, making 18 third period saves to send the Knights to the 3-1 win.

With the win, Neumann (5-1-1, 3-0-0 UCHC) matches it's longest winning streak since the 2009-10 season when it won five straight contests from January 15th to January 23rd, 2010. The Knights will look to make it six in a row tomorrow, when they face-off at Utica for the second of the two-game series between the two teams. Puck-drop is scheduled for 2:30 PM.