WINCHENDON, Mass. - The Saint Michael's College women's ice hockey team narrowly fell to national wins leader Franklin Pierce University, 2-1, on Tuesday during non-league play in Jason Ritchie Ice Arena. The Purple Knights, who are 1-12-2, yielded the only goals to the 15-2-1 Ravens during a 36-second stretch of the second period, putting a scare into a squad that now paces all Division II and III teams in victories.

Senior Macey Thomas (Amherst, Mass./Northfield Mount Hermon) scored a short-handed goal for Saint Michael's while also winning seven face-offs, netting her fourth goal of the year, and first-year Tina Frasca (Norwood, Mass./Massachusetts Spitfires) made 33 saves for her sixth straight 30-save outing. Junior Kristen Spulecki (Orchard Park, N.Y./Buffalo Bison) won 13 draws.

Sophomore Karsyn Baker (Berkley, Mich./Belle Tire) and first-year Lanie Matsumoto (Fort Collins, Colo./Colorado Tigers) scored for the Ravens, and first-year Shannon O'Neil (Tewksbury, Mass./Middlesex Islanders) made 17 stops.

The Purple Knights held an 8-5 edge in shots during the opening period before being outshot 30-10 thereafter. After the visitors were assessed a penalty 47 seconds into the contest, the Ravens were penalized just 17 seconds later, with the teams playing through 1:43 of 4-on-4 hockey. During the Purple and Gold's ensuing 17-second power play, Spulecki had a shot stopped by O'Neil for her team's only shot with the woman advantage. With nearly six minutes remaining, a Purple Knight hit the post, and the squads remained scoreless by intermission.

Franklin Pierce broke the deadlock with two goals in the first 2:32 of the second period, as Baker and Matsumoto scored 36 seconds apart. Baker took a centering pass out front for her marker, while the second goal came during a 2-on-1 break. Late in the period, the Ravens were stopped three times by Frasca during a two-minute 4-on-4 stretch that began at 14:22, and Saint Michael's was assessed two penalties in the final 2:47, but Frasca saved both shots on net, including during the second penalty, which spilled over into the third frame.

At 4:59 of the final period, the Purple Knights went on a power play, but their only shot during that time, from sophomore Amanda Kempainen (Chazy, N.Y./Chazy Flyers U19), was denied. The hosts gained a power-play chance of their own with 6:14 left, but Frasca stopped the first two shots during the woman advantage, and Thomas stole the puck in the defensive end and put home her own rebound for a short-handed marker with 5:10 remaining. After the rookie goalie made two more saves during the remainder of Franklin Pierce's power play, the Purple Knights were able to get off only one tying attempt in the final four minutes, with first-year Taylor Teixeira (Lewiston, Maine/Hebron Academy) having a try stopped around the four-minute mark.

Saint Michael's continues its six-game road swing with a pair of Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) East games this weekend, beginning with a 7 p.m. match-up on Friday at Saint Anselm College.