SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College women's ice hockey team yielded only a power-play goal with 2:52 remaining against one of the top four offenses in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) East on Friday evening, losing to Franklin Pierce University, 1-0, at Cairns Arena. The Purple Knights are now 1-5 overall and 1-4 in the league, while the Ravens are 4-1 and 4-1.

Sophomore Tina Frasca (Norwood, Mass./Tabor Academy) made 41 saves for Saint Michael's, her second 40-stop outing during her last three contests. She has made at least 30 saves in 13 of 14 career appearances. The Purple Knights, who played at home for the first time since Oct. 31, have played Franklin Pierce five times in the past three seasons, with each decided by two goals or fewer, including four by one marker. The Ravens entered the game tied for third in the ECAC East in scoring, potting 3.5 goals per game, and tied for 11th among all Division II/III squads. Junior Sarah Sheils (Pittsburgh, Pa./Pittsburgh Penguins Elite) scored the winner, helping Franklin Pierce win its fourth straight game, and sophomore Noelle White (Corona, Calif./Colorado Tigers) had 10 stops.

Frasca made 15 saves during a scoreless first period, including stopping back-to-back shots with her left toe at 14:40 and with her right pad 10 seconds later. With nine minutes left, Frasca made her best stop of the period, reaching back with her right leg at the right post to turn aside sophomore Marisa Ketterman's (Palmer, Alaska/Gilmour Academy) cross-ice one-timer during a power play. During the late stages, Frasca stopped consecutive attempts around the 1:30 mark, including turning away junior Karsyn Baker (Detroit, Mich./Belle Tire) with her right pad, before Saint Michael's countered when sophomores Erin Dwyer (Weymouth, Mass./Charles River) and Kayla Kee (Newton, Mass./Newton South) had back-to-back shots saved with one minute left. Dwyer sent a third shot over the crossbar.

Franklin Pierce only held an 8-5 edge in shots in the second stanza, when both teams again were prevented from cracking the scoreboard. Sophomore Tori Hubbard (Saint Albans, Vt./BFA-Saint Albans) had a point-blank shot for the hosts off of a scramble stopped at 16:30 and, with 6:30 to go, Raven sophomore Katie Flynn (Sandwich, Mass./Sandwich) was stopped by Frasca, but the rebound kicked out with the right side of the net vacated before first-year Ashley Dineen (Somers, N.Y./Canterbury School) skated the puck away from danger.

Junior Amanda Kempainen (Chazy, N.Y./Chazy Flyers U19) had a point-blank shot denied at the doorstep following a pass from Dwyer at 18:23 of the third period, and first-year Jillian Witwicki (Danvers, Mass./Pingree School) later skated around one defender to create space in the Franklin Pierce end, eventually ringing a shot off of White's face mask at 12:37. Frasca came up with a handful of difficult saves down the stretch, making a left toe save at 8:40 and holding the right post with her left toe at 8:05 after junior Colleen Doucette (Wakefield, Mass./Wakefield) had dangled around three Purple Knights.

Franklin Pierce broke through with 2:52 to go during a 5-on-3 power play, as first-year Alex Brolsma (Bloomington, Minn./Minnesota Blades) had a low-slot pass deflected toward the right side and, as Frasca scrambled to cover the open portion of the net, Sheils went high over Frasca's glove hand while unmarked on the doorstep. The Purple Knights earned a power play with 1:03 left but were unable to fire any shots on goal, settling only for a shot from the point in the final five seconds that was blocked.

The Purple Knights host the College of the Holy Cross on Saturday at 3 p.m.