SHELTON, Conn. - The Saint Michael's College women's ice hockey team fell at Division I Sacred Heart University, 3-1, on Friday evening in the Rinks at Shelton. The Purple Knights are winless through 13 contests, while the Pioneers improved to 11-8-1, just six days after the teams met during the Purple and Gold's DoubleTree Ice Hockey Classic.

First-year defender Arianna Boscia (Cranston, R.I./La Salle Academy) netted her first collegiate goal for Saint Michael's, which trailed by only one goal into the final minute of the third period after losing a 4-1 decision last Saturday to Sacred Heart. Senior Erin Dwyer (Weymouth, Mass./Archbishop Williams) notched an assist, breaking ties on the program's all-time charts for ninth in career points (44) and 10th in assists (22). Classmate Tina Frasca (Norwood, Mass./Tabor Academy) made 22 saves, as this evening's visit to Shelton was the Purple Knights' first since upsetting the Pioneers, 5-2, in the 2016 New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) Open Tournament play-in game.

Sacred Heart received two goals from junior Taylor Moreland, who also went 24-for-31 on faceoffs. Sophomore Katie Stueve added a goal and two assists, and junior Devan Kane made 17 stops.

The hosts held an 11-7 edge in shots during the first 20 minutes, a scoreless stanza, and killed off a pair of penalties. In a woman advantage that began at 8:00, Saint Michael's saw senior Athena Akiki's (Allendale, N.J./New Jersey Rockets) bid to break the stalemate denied, and Kane had two stops on a Purple Knight power play that started at 12:30.

The teams combined for only six second-period shots, but three found the back of the net, all in the opening six minutes. Moreland won the opening faceoff then tallied just 31 seconds into the period for the contest's first goal, and Stueve doubled the advantage with 3:39 gone. Just 2:18 later, Boscia cut the deficit to 2-1, blasting a shot from the point through traffic into the left side of the net after Dwyer walked up the boards and dished to the rookie.

Saint Michael's gained two more power plays before the end of the stanza while looking to tie, but senior defender Lauren Cuculino (Glen Mills, Pa./Quakers) had a pair of shots blocked while junior Amanda Donahoe's (Wakefield, Mass./Saint Mary's) attempt was saved. Frasca also came up with a save on senior Megan Finlay's shorthanded try around the 13-minute mark. Saint Michael's piled up four shots on net in the opening 31 seconds of the third period, with two coming off the stick of junior Jillian Witwicki (Danvers, Mass./Pingree School), and Frasca made two saves while Witwicki blocked two shots during a Sacred Heart power play that began at 6:58.

With the Pioneers again a woman down in the latter stages, Witwicki's shot around 16:25 was saved, and Finlay blocked first-year Alissa Sullivan's (Hingham, Mass./Hingham) bid less than a minute later. Dwyer had a game-tying try stopped near the 18-minute mark, and Frasca vacated the net in favor of an extra skater at 18:39 before Moreland hit the empty net at 19:39 to seal the victory.

The Purple Knights return to NEHC play for the first time in nearly two months tomorrow when they visit the College of the Holy Cross, another Division I outfit, at 2 p.m.