SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. - The Plymouth State University women's ice hockey team earned a win while host Saint Michael's College and Sacred Heart University played to a scoreless tie on Friday during the opening day of the ninth annual DoubleTree Ice Hockey Classic at Cairns Arena. Plymouth State knocked off Nichols College, 3-2, in the opening contest. The winner of the tournament will be determined tomorrow, as Plymouth State opposes Sacred Heart at 1 p.m. and the Purple Knights take on Nichols at 4 p.m.

First-year Tina Frasca (Norwood, Mass./Massachusetts Spitfires) made a season-high 37 saves for the 0-9-1 Purple and Gold in the nightcap while posting her first career shutout, backstopping Saint Michael's to the first scoreless draw in the program's 14-year history. Senior Alexius Schutt (Elk River, Minn./Elk River) had 31 stops for 1-7-4 Sacred Heart, which held a 37-31 edge in shots.

Playing their first game since Dec. 7, the Purple Knights held a 14-9 advantage in shots during the first period while eventually holding a 20-11 lead in the second prior to the Pioneers firing off 26 of the final 37 attempts in the game. With 5:20 gone in the third period, Frasca denied junior Alanna Woodford (Scituate, Mass./Scituate) during a 2-on-1 break before making a pair of difficult saves in the closing seconds, including stretching her left leg across the goal mouth to stuff an attempt at 11.6 ticks. Nearly 1:20 into overtime, Saint Michael's had back-to-back shots out front by sophomore Kaly Spilhaus (Bourne, Mass./Groton School) and Erin Dwyer (Weymouth, Mass./Charles River) denied by Schutt, and the hosts killed off a penalty during the final 1:49, with Frasca making three more saves.

Sophomore Marisa Zamrock (Lewiston, Maine/Kents Hill School) led 3-7 Plymouth State to victory in the opening game of the day, notching a goal and an assist to help the Panthers snap a four-game losing streak. Junior Kate Banys (Newburyport, Mass./Saint Thomas Aquinas) and first-year Emily Auby (Stoughton, Wis./Milwaukee Jr. Admirals) also tallied, and senior Ali Ponte (Richmond Hill, Ontario/Stouffville Jr. Stars) made 23 saves. Junior Grace Murphy (Montclair, Va./Prince William Panthers) and sophomore Erin Dice (Ashburn, Va./Washington Pride) scored for Nichols, which slipped to 2-7, and senior Francesca Palazzo (Bernardston, Mass./Turners Falls) had 32 stops.

Murphy's power-play marker at the left post put the Bison on top 16:48 into the first period before Zamrock's short-handed breakaway goal knotted the contest 1:26 into the second. After the teams totaled 28 shots in the opening two periods, firing 14 apiece, they combined for 32 in the third stanza alone. Dice's power-play shot from the left side slipped through Ponte at 6:17 of the final frame, giving Nichols a brief 2-1 edge, before Auby tipped a loose puck home at 8:08 during a power play. Banys netted the only even-strength goal of the game 13:52 into the period for the winner, as Palazzo vacated the net after coming out to challenge an initial shot, and the loose puck found its way to the left post and Banys, who found only a defender in position to try stopping her attempt.