WINCHENDON, Mass. - The Saint Michael's College women's ice hockey team dropped a 7-0 decision to Franklin Pierce University during New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) action at The Winchendon School's Ritchie Ice Arena on Friday. The Purple Knights move to 1-5-1 overall and 1-4 in the league, while the Ravens, runners-up in last year's Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Open Tournament, are 5-2 and 3-2.

Saint Michael's junior Erin Dwyer (Weymouth, Mass./Archbishop Williams) went 10-for-14 on faceoffs, while senior Kaly Spilhaus (Bourne, Mass./Groton School) was 9-of-11 on draws. Junior Abby Burke (Bedford, Mass./The Rivers School) collected 29 saves in 50:15, while classmate Erica Ragazzo (Mansfield, Mass./Ursuline Academy) stopped seven shots in 9:45 of relief as she made her fifth career appearance.

Junior Michelle Holmes led Franklin Pierce with two goals and one assist, while sophomore Alex Brolsma both scored twice and seniors Haley Arnold, Colleen Doucette and Bryana Harron each had one goal, with Arnold and Harron also providing one assist apiece. Seniors Karsyn Baker, Haylea Barbieri and Sarah Sheils and junior Katie Flynn each provided one helper. Junior Shannon O'Neil turned in an 18-save shutout.

Franklin Pierce, which entered the day fifth among all Division II/III programs and second in the NEHC with 4.67 goals per game, netted three goals during a 17-shot first period. Doucette opened the scoring at 7:33 when she took a pass from Baker and finished from right in front of the net. Burke then made a pair of stops to help the Purple Knights kill off their first penalty midway through the stanza. The Ravens clicked off goals 22 seconds, beginning at 13:09, to take a 3-0 lead. Arnold initiated a breakout with a chip off the glass, but a Saint Michael's defender lost her footing, allowing Holmes to skate in for the breakaway opportunity. Harron then potted a goal after a quick finish off Sheils' feed. Saint Michael's juniors Athena Akiki (Allendale, N.J./New Jersey Rockets) and Sarah Bagley (Concord, Mass./Concord-Carlisle) were denied on back-to-back chances in the period's closing minutes.

The Purple Knights kept the Ravens to one goal on eight shots in the second period. During the visitors' first power-play chance of the stanza at 2:20, Saint Michael's fired six shots, but only Akiki's bid went on target as the hosts blocked two shots while seeing two other shots miss the net. Franklin Pierce extended its lead to 4-0 at 13:01 when Harron corralled the loose puck in the slot, spun and flicked the puck on net for the score. Barbieri then rang a shot off the post less than one minute later. Purple and Gold sophomore Jillian Witwicki (Danvers, Mass./Pingree School) was stopped by O'Neil with under a minute to play in the period.

During a three-goal third period, the hosts got a marker just 1:12 into the stanza as Brolsma's shot from the left circle found its way through Burke's legs. Arnold then scored at 10:15 before Brolsma tallied again at 15:25 to round out the Franklin Pierce scoring. Ragazzo turned away Brolsma with just under a minute remaining to deny the hat-trick bid.

Saint Michael's plays on Saturday at 5:05 p.m. at Division I College of the Holy Cross, the defending ECAC Open Tournament champion.