WORCESTER, Mass. - The Saint Michael's College women's ice hockey team took its first point ever from Division I College of the Holy Cross on Saturday, forging a 1-1 tie during Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) East play in the Hart Center. The Purple Knights improved to 2-15-1 overall and 1-9-1 in the league, while the Crusaders are 12-5-2 and 8-2-1.

Saint Michael's held Holy Cross well below its season average of 3.56 goals, which was good for fourth among all Division I/II programs and led the ECAC East, as the visitors took their first point in a series that began during the 2001-02 season. Each of the last three meetings had been one-goal Crusader wins. Sophomore Tina Frasca (Norwood, Mass./Tabor Academy) made 37 saves for her 19th career 30-save outing, and first-year Jillian Witwicki (Danvers, Mass./Pingree School) netted her second power-play goal of the weekend and was 9-for-20 on face-offs.

Holy Cross scored its lone goal during a power play, as the Crusaders have the fourth-best woman advantage rate (24.2%) in Division I/II and the top unit in the conference. Sophomore Izzy Bagi (Branford, Conn./The Gunnery) scored, and senior Alexandra Stevenson (Norwood, N.Y./Loomis Chaffee) had 17 stops.

In addition to Frasca making 12 saves, the hosts hit the post three times in the opening period, and the netminder came up with three stops in the final 1:33 during a Holy Cross power play. Bagi rung another pipe during a power play a little more than six minutes into the second frame before breaking the deadlock on the same woman advantage. Sophomore Erin Hall (Pembroke, Mass./Southfield School) had a wrist shot denied by Frasca, but the rebound popped out to the left side of the net, where Bagi tallied at 7:44. Just 2:40 later, Stevenson stopped a Purple Knight on a penalty shot, and a Saint Michael's player hit the post in the waning seconds of the period.

Midway through the third period, the visitors gained another power play, and sophomore Erin Dwyer (Weymouth, Mass./Charles River) slipped a pass out front for Witwicki, who knotted the game at 10:58. Senior Maire Bartkus (Acton, Mass./Northfield Mount Hermon) also assisted. Stevenson came up with three stops during another Purple Knight power play in the final four minutes, and Frasca posted four saves in the last two minutes to ensure overtime. In the extra session, Frasca had another quartet of saves, while the visitors fired off only one attempt.

The Purple Knights head to in-state counterpart Castleton State College on Friday at 7 p.m.