WORCESTER, Mass. - The fourth-seeded Saint Michael's College women's ice hockey team lost to No. 1 Saint Anselm College, 5-0, in an Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Open Tournament semifinal at the College of the Holy Cross' Hart Center. The Purple Knights move to 3-19-3, while the Hawks improve to 23-3 and remain tied for first in Division II/III in victories. Saint Michael's plays in Sunday's consolation game at 1 p.m. against either the second-seeded hosts or No. 3 Sacred Heart University.

First-year goalie Tina Frasca (Norwood, Mass./Massachusetts Spitfires) made 39 stops for her ninth 30-save performance of the season, while junior Kristen Spulecki (Orchard Park, N.Y./Buffalo Bison) won a team-high seven face-offs for the Purple and Gold. Senior Macey Thomas (Amherst, Mass./Northfield Mount Hermon) won five face-offs in her 102nd career game, tying her with Gabrielle Bourgeois '08 for the third in school history. With an appearance tomorrow, Thomas would move into a three-way tie with Jess Tourville '09 and Meghan Sweezey '10 for first in games played.

First-year Alexandra Starzyk (Enfield, Conn./Williston Northampton) netted a goal and two assists for Saint Anselm, and classmate Alison Quinn (Canton, Mass./Southfield) collected a goal and assist. Juniors Tiffany Herron (Clinton Township, Mich./Chippewa Valley) and Sabrina Iannetti (Lynn, Mass./Saint Mary's) and first-year Meaghan Spurling (Byfield, Mass./Brewster Academy) also tallied. Junior Franny Nicholson (Saint Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) dished out three assists, and classmate Lindsey Brown (Mounds View, Minn./Ohio State) turned away seven shots.

After skating to a scoreless first period that saw Frasca make 15 saves, Saint Anselm broke onto the scoreboard while on the power play at 1:42 of the second stanza when Starzyk netted her 12th goal of the season.  That turned out to be the only blemish in the period for Saint Michael's as Frasca collected 17 saves to keep the Saint Anselm advantage to just one goal heading into the final 20 minutes.

Saint Anselm, winner of the last two ECAC Open Tournaments, pulled away from Saint Michael's in the third period. The Hawks churned out four goals, aided by a pair of power-play markers from Herron and Spurling. Herron's tally came just 13 seconds into the frame for a squad that went 3-for-4 with the player advantage. Saint Anselm then reeled off three goals during an 8:49 span, concluding with Quinn's score at 15:04.

by Student Intern Eric Gissendanner