GORHAM, Maine - Junior Jillian Witwicki's (Danvers, Mass./Pingree School) power-play goal with 7.3 seconds left snapped a tie and completed a rally in the final 3:35 that lifted the Saint Michael's College women's ice hockey team over the University of Southern Maine, 3-2, on Friday at the USM Ice Arena. The Purple Knights, who downed the Huskies for the first time since January 2008, improved to 4-19 overall and 4-12 in the New England Hockey Conference (NEHC). Southern Maine slips to 6-17-1 and 4-11-1.

Witwicki was joined in the scoring column by senior Erin Dwyer (Weymouth, Mass./Archbishop Williams) and junior Katherine O'Brien (East Sandwich, Mass./Tilton School). Dwyer finished with two points, also turning in an assist. Senior Tina Frasca (Norwood, Mass./Tabor Academy) made 20 saves, tying Erin Stevens '13 (485) for the ninth-highest season total in program history. With her goal, Dwyer matched Gabrielle Bourgeois '08 (30) for sixth in school annals in career tallies, and her helper put her in a three-way tie for eighth with 25 assists.

Sophomore Jensen Hamblett and first-year Riley Kirk, both defensemen, provided the Huskie goals, and sophomore Britney Evangelista had 18 stops.

Down 2-1 in the late stages, Saint Michael's received the tying marker from Dwyer at 16:25 of the third period, with the senior backhanding a shot over the goalie after the visitors had forced a turnover in the neutral zone. Senior Tori Hubbard (Saint Albans, Vt./BFA-Saint Albans) earned the assist. Less than two minutes later, the Purple Knights went on a power play, and Witwicki cashed in with the winner, slapping a shot beyond the left circle. Dwyer and junior Kaitlyn Wurzer (Lee, N.H./Berwick Academy) provided the assists.

Kirk's goal 5:52 into the contest proved to be her team's lone even-strength tally of the game, as she scored from the blue line through a group of bodies out front. Frasca stopped the other nine shots sent on goal during the stanza. O'Brien found the equalizer 8:16 into the second period, spinning in the slot and backhanding a shot inside the right post. Senior Kayla Kee (Newton, Mass./Newton South) and junior Ashley Dineen (Somers, N.Y./Canterbury School) picked up the helpers.

Hamblett put her team back in front at 17:37, with just six seconds remaining on a Saint Michael's penalty, as her low shot from the blue line snuck inside the right post. However, the Purple Knights yielded just five other shots on net in the period despite taking three penalties, as they killed two.

The Purple Knights conclude their regular season on Saturday at the University of New England at 4 p.m.