SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. – The Saint Michael's College women's ice hockey team fell by a 6-3 count against nationally-ranked Castleton University in New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) action at Cairns Arena on Friday. The Purple Knights move to 3-15-1 overall and 1-11 in league play, while the Spartans are 14-4-2 and 9-2-1. Castleton is seventh in the latest D3hockey.com national poll.

After scoring in Friday's game, Saint Michael's senior Amanda Kempainen (Chazy, N.Y./Chazy Flyers U19) logged the 19th marker of her career, moving her into eighth in program history. She also now has 31 career points, putting her alone at 14th in school annals.

Kempainen and sophomores Ashley Dineen (Somers, N.Y./Canterbury School) and Jillian Witwicki (Danvers, Mass./Pingree School) each scored for Saint Michael's, with Witwicki adding an assist and Dineen netting her first collegiate goal. Senior Emily Loebs (Acton, Mass./Minuteman Lady Flames) and junior Carolyn Avery (Lexington, Mass./Lexington) both had one assist. Junior Erica Ragazzo (Mansfield, Mass./Ursuline Academy) made 15 saves in 28:25 and first-year Nicole Talcott (Colchester, Vt./Rice Memorial Prep) had 17 stops in 30:14.

Castleton senior Anna Daniels (Falun, Sweden/Leksands IF), sophomore Hannah Rose (Kenora, Ontario/Beaver Brae Secondary) and first-year Jocelyn Forrest (Prince George, British Columbia/SAIT Trojans) each recorded one goal and one assist, while junior Ashley Pelkey (Barre, Vt./Vermont Shamrocks), sophomore Brianna Keats (Calgary, Alberta/Sardis Secondary) and first-year Morgan Richard (West Yarmouth, Mass./Cape Cod Storm) each potted one goal. Junior Rachael Brazil (Braintree, Mass./Braintree) stopped 35 shots for the win.

The teams were knotted up at 1-1 during a first period that saw Saint Michael's hold a 16-11 edge in shots. Keats put the visitors on top at 8:19 when she fired in a neutral-zone shot that bounced into the left side. The Purple Knights countered at 15:39 on the power play as Loebs fed a point pass to Witwick on the half boards, and Witwicki wristed a left circle shot inside the near post. Saint Michael's junior Kayla Kee (Newton, Mass./Newton South) tested Brazil with a point shot just before time expired in the period.

Saint Michael's and Castleton then combined for five second-period goals. The Spartans scored twice in a 1:44 span to take a 3-1 lead as Richard scored at 6:41 and 8:25. Kempainen cut the margin in half after burying the rebound chance from Avery's initial slot shot. Castleton went up 4-2 at 11:23 as Rose scooted down the left side and tucked in the puck to the near post for a short-handed tally. Dineen's marker at 15:53 came after she punched in the loose puck after a scramble in the crease.

Trailing 4-3 in the third period, the hosts nearly pulled even seven minutes into the stanza when junior Erin Dwyer (Weymouth, Mass./Archbishop Williams) clanged a shot off the crossbar. Castleton iced the game with goals at 11:08 and 16:00 thanks to Forrest and Pelkey, respectively. After Talcott was pulled for the extra attacker with 1:21 remaining, Castleton tried to bury the empty-netter, but a trio of Spartan shots was blocked by the Purple Knight defense.

Saint Michael's concludes this season's home schedule with a 1 p.m. Senior Day game on Saturday against New England College.