SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College women's ice hockey team capped a six-game homestand with a 4-1 loss to Franklin Pierce University on Friday evening during New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) play in Cairns Arena. The Purple Knights slipped to 3-10-1 overall and 1-6 in the league, while the Ravens pushed their unbeaten streak to nine in improving to 11-2-1 and 5-2.

In her team's first NEHC contest since Nov. 21, senior defender Emily Loebs (Acton, Mass./Minuteman Lady Flames) netted her second goal of the season off of sophomore Katherine O'Brien's (East Sandwich, Mass./Tilton School) assist. Junior Abby Burke (Bedford, Mass./The Rivers School) made 36 saves for her sixth 30-stop performance this year.

Senior Karsyn Baker scored twice for Franklin Pierce while going 15-of-19 on faceoffs, and classmates Haylea Barbieri and Sarah Shiels also found the back of the net. Senior Colleen Doucette dished off two assists, and junior Shannon O'Neil made 12 stops.

Burke made a nice blocker save of senior Francesca Paciello from the doorstep on a rebound attempt with 10:30 left in the opening period, one of her 10 stops in the stanza, before an eventful final minute closed out the period. After Burke denied sophomore Alex Brolsma's point-blank try at the left post with 59 seconds to go, the Purple Knights broke out with a 2-on-1 rush, but sophomore Jillian Witwicki's (Danvers, Mass./Pingree School) bid was stopped. The Ravens earned a power play with 23 ticks left, and Sheils slapped home junior Michelle Holmes' pass with less than a second remaining in the stanza.

Just 47 seconds into the second period, Baker scored from between the circles. With her team down 2-0, junior Carolyn Avery (Lexington, Mass./Lexington) had an attempt from the doorstep stopped at 14:35 after classmate Sarah Bagley (Concord, Mass./Concord-Carlisle) fed her from behind the net. O'Brien worked a 2-on-1 rush a minute and a half later but sailed a shot wide of the cage. Midway through the period, Barbieri sniped the upper left corner of the net to extend the Raven lead with 9:50 remaining. First-year Brenna Galvin (Dorchester, Mass./Boston Latin School) looked to break the hosts on the scoreboard less than a minute later, but her one-time shot was stopped.

Baker made it 4-0 3:45 into the third by redirecting Doucette's pass out front. Junior Erin Dwyer (Weymouth, Mass./Archbishop Williams) generated three shots on goal during a Saint Michael's power play in the final seven minutes of the game, and the Purple and Gold broke on the board with 4:06 to go, as Loebs scored from the slot off of O'Brien's feed.

The Purple Knights hit the road tomorrow for the first time since Nov. 21 to take on the University of Massachusetts at Boston at 1 p.m.