BEVERLY, Mass. -- Despite a valiant defensive effort, the Johnson & Wales University women's ice hockey team suffered its first loss of the season.  The Wildcats lost a 2-1 decision at Endicott on Friday night.

The loss dropped the Wildcats to 1-1 and 0-1 in the Colonial Hockey Conference. Endicott improved to 2-0, 1-0 in the league.

Johnson & Wales got a tremendous performance from rookie goaltender Julia Åberg (Stockholm, Sweden). Making her collegiate debut, the freshman made 63 saves. JWU defensemen also blocked 23 more shots.

The two teams were scoreless through the first two periods. The Gulls broke through for the first goal three minutes into the third period. JWU answered at the 12:12 mark. Freshman forward Kathryn Mason (Grafton, Mass.) scored for the second game in a row with the assist from Casey Chodkowski (Somerset, Mass.) and Tamara Bowden (Weymouth, Mass.). Unfortunately, EC scored the go-ahead goal on the power play with 4:14 remaining in the game.

The two teams are back on the ice Saturday when they face off at 7 pm at Lynch Arena.