SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College women's ice hockey team extended a one-goal advantage into a 4-1 cushion in the final 2:22 before downing Post University by that margin on Saturday at Cairns Arena. Now 2-0, the Purple Knights completed a season-opening weekend sweep of the 0-2 Eagles during the teams' first meetings ever.

Senior Jillian Witwicki (Danvers, Mass./Pingree School) recorded a goal and an assist for the hosts, while classmate Ashley Dineen (Somers, N.Y./Canterbury School), junior Madison Nichols (Gilford, N.H./Tilton School) and first-year Megan Doherty (Stoughton, Mass./Walpole Express) all scored once. Junior Nicole Talcott (Colchester, Vt./Rice Memorial Prep) made 27 saves, and senior Kaitlyn Wurzer (Lee, N.H./Berwick Academy) went 14-for-27 at the faceoff dot. First-year Maddie Gervais (Glastonbury, Conn./East Catholic) was 8-of-14 and classmate Emily Lanci (Canton, Mass./Lawrence Academy) 6-for-9, as each added an assist. First-year Paige Dundas scored for Post, and classmate Danaée St-Germain recorded 32 saves.

Nichols accounted for the lone goal of the first period, putting Saint Michael's in front for good after just 2:15 by sending a shot from the left circle over St-Germain's right shoulder after receiving junior Brenna Galvin's (Dorchester, Mass./Boston Latin School) pass from behind the net. Talcott kept it 1-0 by denying first-year Ann Margaret Disciscio's close-range backhander at 8:50, and sophomore defender Alissa Sullivan (Hingham, Mass./Hingham) rung the right post at 12:05. Gervais made a nice move to skate past an Eagle defender and work a 2-on-1 with Doherty with less than a minute to go, but her shot from the left circle was denied by St-Germain.

Another early goal helped pad the Purple Knight lead during the second period, as Sullivan snapped a pass from the right circle during a power play that Doherty tipped home at the top of the crease with just 5:47 gone. First-year Krista Ferrari (Dunstable, Mass./East Coast Wizards) was stopped on a breakaway at 12:25 before being denied from close range shortly thereafter, with St-Germain making a right pad save each time. Dineen hit the left post at 15:30, and Talcott slid out of her crease in the late moments of the stanza to knock away a loose puck and prevent pursuing sophomore Sierra Alarid from cleanly controlling a defensive giveaway.

Talcott saved three straight point-blank shots around the seven-minute mark of the third period, including stopping Disciscio on the first shot after a nice move out front. During a shorthanded bid, Wurzer drilled the crossbar around the 13-minute mark, and Dundas responded at 15:25 by drawing Post within one, picking the top right corner with a wrister from the left circle. However, Witwicki converted from the slot during a power play at the 17:38 mark, tipping home Wurzer's blast from the left point. Senior Amanda Donahoe (Wakefield, Mass./Saint Mary's) keyed the play by leaving the puck for Wurzer while pinned to the boards. Dineen added an empty-net goal with 32 seconds to go following Witwicki's breakout pass, shooting just inside the blue line.

The Purple Knights play a home-and-home series next weekend with the State University of New York at Potsdam, beginning with a meeting on Friday at Cairns Arena at 7 p.m.