January 11,
2006
Contact: Daniel O'Reilly
Phone: (802) 654-2929
SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. –The Saint Michael's College
women's ice hockey team (3-9, 2-5 ECAC East) was defeated by
Sacred Heart University (6-8-3) for the second day in a row on
Wednesday, dropping an afternoon contest, 11-1, at Cairns
Arena.
The Purple Knights, who lost their eighth consecutive game, have
squared off against the Pioneers more times than any other opponent
in the program's six year history, and have yet to record a
victory in 12 all-time meetings against the Division I
school.
Senior Annice Mason (Berlin, Vt./U-32) made 22
saves for Saint Michael's and Michelle Miaskiewicz
(Salem,
Mass./North
Shore Vipers) scored, while
sophomore Sarah Hickman (Amherst,
Mass./Amherst-Pelham) had three goals and two assists for
Sacred Heart. Senior Sarah Turbert (Norwalk,
Conn./Connecticut Polar Bears) also scored three times for
the Pioneers, and contributed an assist, and junior
Michelle Panella (Marlboro, N.J.) had two goals
and a pair of assists.
Saint Michael's controlled puck possession over the first
five minutes of the opening period, but were unable to capitalize
on a scoring opportunity. At the 5:08 mark, sophomore Katie
McLaughlin (Hingham,
Mass./Williston Northampton) put
the visitors on the board, sneaking the puck past
Mason after rattling off a series of shots that
could not be frozen by the assistant captain. Shortly after the
ensuing face-off, just 24 seconds after the Pioneers'
previous goal, Panella found freshman Gina
Arnone
(Bridgewater,
N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) streaking down the right boards,
approaching Mason's left side.
Arnone closed out the period's scoring,
taking a slap shot from the far side that sailed past
Mason, putting Sacred Heart up 2-0 going into the
first intermission for the second day in a row. The Purple Knights
had their best scoring opportunity with 1:35 remaining in the first
when sophomore Leslie Pomponi (Belmont,
Mass./Belmont) spotted freshman Shannon
Murphy (Wellesley, Mass./Newton Country
Day) skating all alone into the Pioneers' zone.
Attempting to lead Murphy,
Pomponi's pass proved to be just out of
reach of the 5-5 forward.
Miaskiewicz cut the deficit in half 7:32 into the
second period. The senior, who is in search of her 40th
career assist, which would put her past Meg Lyons
'05 for sole possession of the all-time program
record, scored a power play goal with 55 seconds remaining on
senior Jane Auxier's (Palm Beach,
Fla./Cardinal Newman H.S.) holding penalty, thanks to
assists from sophomore Gabrielle Bourgeois
(New Haven, Vt./Middlebury Union) and junior
Melissa Gagne (Eliot, Maine/Berwick Academy).
Hickman put Sacred Heart back up by two, receiving
a pass from freshman Jaclyn Rideout
(Wilmington, Mass./Lawrence Academy) while skating
cross ice in front of Mason, sending a wrist shot
into the top left corner of the net. Just under two minutes later,
Hickman skated into the Saint Michael's zone
and put the puck in the same spot, once again thanks to an assist
from Rideout.
Sacred Heart erupted for seven goals in the final frame, five of
which came over the last 5:19 of the game. Panella
scored two of them, to add to her team lead in points, and
Turbert recorded a hat-trick in just 4:36.
Hickman and freshman Whitney Dziama
(Walpole,
Mass./Noble and Greenough) also
had a productive final period, each earning two
assists.
With the outburst in scoring, the Pioneers have now recorded at
least one goal in each of the past 17 periods against Saint
Michael's, dating back to the second period of the two team's
December 7, 2003 match-up.
Saint Michael's will play again on Saturday when they play host to
Salve Regina at 3 p.m. Sacred Heart, meanwhile, will face-off
against Holy Cross on Friday at 7 p.m.
For a complete boxscore, click here.
