SHELTON, Conn. - The Saint Michael's College women's ice hockey team finished up its regular season on Saturday afternoon with an 8-0 loss to Division I Sacred Heart University at the Sports Center of Connecticut. The Purple Knights finished 5-21 while the Pioneers completed their regular season 24-6-2.

As the No. 5 seed in next week's New England Women's Hockey Alliance (NEWHA) Tournament, the Purple Knights head to No. 4 Franklin Pierce University on Wednesday for a first-round contest, with start time to be determined. The final four teams head to Saint Anselm College for next weekend's semifinals and final round.

Junior Nicole Talcott (Colchester, Vt./Rice Memorial Prep) had 21 saves during the first 40 minutes of play for the Purple Knights before first-year Lucy Chin (Lexington, Mass./East Coast Wizards) relieved her, making five saves in 20 minutes. First-year Emily Lanci (Canton, Mass./Lawrence Academy) finished 3-for-7 on faceoffs. Sophomore Jordan Monbouquette (Wayland, Mass./Lawrence Academy) blocked two shots.

Junior Lilly Cleary paved the way for Sacred Heart with a goal and three assists while three teammates registered two goals each along with sophomore Jayne Lewis adding one. Senior Taylor Moreland went 15-for-17 on faceoffs as classmate Devan Kane notched eight saves.

Senior Ashley Dineen (Somers, N.Y./Canterbury School) got a pair of shots off in the first 3:32 of play of the opening period for the Purple Knights but saw both saved. Talcott shut down sophomore Olivia Bryant's ensuing try before Kane denied senior Katherine O'Brien (East Sandwich, Mass./Tilton School) and sophomore Arianna Boscia's (Cranston, R.I./La Salle Academy) bids around the 14:25 mark. The Pioneers struck at 15:02 as junior Savannah Hersey set up senior Meghan Kebalka to put one past Talcott. Talcott denied five more Pioneer attempts in the remaining 4:58 of play.

The Pioneers pulled ahead 3-0 in the second period after sophomore Maddie Bishop tallied at 2:41 and Cleary at 6:09 during a shorthanded sequence. Sophomore Torrie Gray (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth North) later got a shot off against Kane, who picked it up before senior Jillian Witwicki (Danvers, Mass./Pingree School) registered a try around the eight-minute mark that was stopped. Talcott denied three Pioneer attempts before first-year Maddie Gervais (Glastonbury, Conn./East Catholic) had a bid rejected. Between Gervais's that shot and the 14:27 mark, the Pioneers got off five shots, with Talcott saving each, while junior Christiana Akiki (Allendale, N.J./New Jersey Rockets) and Witwicki blocked a shot each. The Purple Knights denied six more Pioneer shots before Kebalka snuck one past Talcott at 17:02 and again at 19:36.

Bishop tacked another goal on for the Pioneers at 1:48 of the third period. At 5:51, first-year Courtney Kelly (Arlington, Mass./Boston Jr. Shamrocks) had a try that Kane saved before Lewis skated down and put one past Chin at 5:59. First-year Marissa Letizio finished up the scoring for Sacred Heart at 8:52. The Purple Knights shut down a Pioneer power play at 13:09 during which they only allowed two shots before first-year Lizzie Blanchard (New Bedford, Mass./New Bedford) went down for a try against Kane, with the attempted denied.