SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College women's ice hockey team fell to Franklin Pierce University, 3-0, on Saturday in Cairns Arena during Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) East action. The Purple Knights are 2-14 overall and 1-9 in the league, while the Ravens, who were tied for second in the ECAC East, are 14-2-1 and 8-1. The contest was the finale of a three-game season series. Saint Michael's lost the first two by one goal apiece.

Sophomore Tina Frasca (Norwood, Mass./Tabor Academy) had 37 stops for her 18th career 30-save outing, helping limit Franklin Pierce to nearly one goal less than its season average (3.62), which was good for eighth across Division II/III. Junior Karsyn Baker (Detroit, Mich./Belle Tire) scored twice for the Ravens, sophomore Marisa Ketterman (Palmer, Alaska/Gilmour Academy) added a tally, and classmate Noelle White (Corona, Calif./Colorado Tigers) had 17 stops.

In a scoreless first period, Baker rung the post a little less than five minutes into the contest before Frasca made a pair of stops during a Raven power play that began shortly thereafter. During a Saint Michael's power play, junior Amanda Kempainen (Chazy, N.Y./Chazy Flyers U19) fired a shot just over the left corner of the net at 13:40 for her team's best chance of the period. At 16:20, junior Bryana Harron's (Woburn, Mass./Woburn) one-timer at the right post was denied by Frasca's left pad, and the netminder made a glove stop off of sophomore Lanie Matsumoto's (Fort Collins, Colo./Colorado Tigers) shot high in the right circle at 18:49 directly off of a face-off.

One minute into the second period, junior Haylea Barbieri's (Plainville, Mass./Boston Shamrocks) shot from the blue line was slowed by Frasca yet continued trickling toward the goal line, but sophomore defender Kayla Kee (Newton, Mass./Newton South) held the left post and ensured the puck never crossed. Classmate Tori Hubbard (Saint Albans, Vt./BFA-Saint Albans) later took the puck away from a Raven inside the blue line and, during a 1-on-1 bid, fired a shot off of White's blocker at 5:25. Franklin Pierce broke the deadlock at 13:12, as Baker carried through the right side of the zone, cut out front to move Frasca out of position, and tallied on the left side. With 1:04 remaining, Ketterman doubled the lead by tucking a shot from the slot under the goalie's glove.

The lone shot during the first seven minutes of the third period came from Purple Knight senior Maire Bartkus (Acton, Mass./Northfield Mount Hermon), whose shot from the point at 1:45 hit White's blocker. With seven minutes remaining, Kee carried two-thirds of the ice, making three moves to get deep into the left circle, before firing a shot off of the Raven goalie's face mask. First-year Amanda Donahoe (Wakefield, Mass./Saint Mary's) had a chance to cut the Saint Michael's deficit in half a little later, breaking in alone but being denied by a blocker save at 15:13. Franklin Pierce padded its edge at 16:12 during a 5-on-3 power play, as an initial shot was blocked but ultimately found its way to Baker, who scored near the left post. The last Purple Knight chance came with a little more than two minutes remaining, as Kempainen found sophomore Erin Dwyer (Weymouth, Mass./Charles River) during a short-handed 2-on-1, but White made a stop.

The Purple Knights take their final regular-season break from league action by hosting the State University of New York at Potsdam next Friday at 4 p.m.