GORHAM, Maine - The Saint Michael's College women's ice hockey team fell to the University of Southern Maine, 4-1, without yielding an even-strength marker on Saturday in an Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) East contest at the USM Ice Arena. The Purple Knights fall to 3-16-1 overall and 2-13-1 in the ECAC East, while the Huskies improve to 6-11-4 and 6-6-2.

Freshman Ellia Héroux (Thunder Bay, Ontario/Thunder Bay Queens) tallied for the Purple Knights, while junior Lisa D'Angelo (Suffield, Conn./Kingswood Oxford) and sophomore Macey Thomas (Amherst, Mass./Northfield Mount Hermon) picked up the assists. Junior Erin Stevens (Watertown, Conn./Connecticut Polar Bears) made 26 saves.

Senior Christen Hart (Saugus, Mass./Saint Mary's) led the Huskies with one power-play goal and assists from two woman-advantage goals and a short-handed tally, while junior Alex Smith (Winthrop, Mass./Saint Mary's) put home two power-play markers. Classmate Kailey Bubier (Auburn, Maine/Hebron Academy) scored a short-handed goal, while freshman Liz Bergstrom (Chanhassen, Minn./Chaska Hawks) finished with 13 stops

The Huskies outshot Saint Michael's, 13-3, during the first stanza, but were unable to put one past Stevens, who helped the Purple Knights kill off two penalties during the period. Southern Maine nearly took a 1-0 lead with 5:30 left but was unable to convert, as the puck glided across the crease and Stevens reached back and covered the puck before it crossed the line.

Special teams proved key for the Huskies in the second period, as they tallied their first three goals on power plays and netted one short-handed marker. Smith started the scoring at 6:14, and Hart made it 2-0 at the 9:40 mark. Smith extended the Husky lead at 13:42, and Bubier scored a short-handed goal at 15:25.

The Purple Knights were able to cut into the deficit when Héroux picked up her second goal of the season at 12:38 of the third period off of feeds from D'Angelo and Thomas. The assist was D'Angelo's first on the year.

The Purple Knights return to action when they host Lindenwood University on Friday at 7 p.m.