ASTON, Pa. – The Neumann University women's ice hockey won its fifth consecutive game on Friday evening, securing a 5-2 victory on home-ice over Chatham University in United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) action.

Senior Bek Lucas continued her scoring tear this season by registering a hat trick to go along with an assist in the win. Katelyn Brown added a goal and an assist in the win, while goalie Julia Fair made 24 saves on 26 shots.

Entering the contest in third place in the UCHC standings, Neumann looked to add two more points in the standings with the hope of continuing to move up the rankings. The game opened quietly with each team playing conservatively for the opening half of the first period, but Lucas would dominate the final ten minutes of the frame.

The senior forward got the scoring started on a breakaway at the 13:23 mark of the period, powering a well-placed wrist shot past the Cougar net-minder to put the Knights up 1-0. Chatham answered back with a goal off a deflected shot from the point under a minute later, but Lucas responded back at 16:31 to put Neumann ahead by a score of 2-1 heading into intermission. Her second goal of the night was a thing of beauty as she pulled the puck between her legs, dangled around several Cougar defenders and sniped home a laser of a snap-shot to the upper right corner of the net.

Neumann extended its lead to a pair at the start of the second stanza, when Brown ripped home a shot from the slot to put the Knights up 3-1. Chatham would not go quietly though, fighting hard throughout the period and scoring late in the frame to make it 3-2 heading to the third.

Despite the late second period surge from the Cougars, the final period of play would be all Neumann. Jackie Schneider tallied her ninth goal of the season early in the period, while Lucas completed her hat-trick off an excellent feed from Claudia Trionfo on the penalty kill at the 10:12 mark to seal the win. Shots for the game finished 34-26 in favor of the Knights.

Neumann (10-5-2, 8-2-1 UCHC) returns to the ice tomorrow for the second of its two game series with Chatham. Puck-drop is scheduled for 2:00 PM.