SHELTON, Conn. (February 26, 2017) – Much like an animal chasing a carrot on a stick, the target kept moving for the Franklin Pierce University women's ice hockey team on Sunday afternoon at Sacred Heart, in the consolation round of the NEHC Open Tournament. Trailing 1-0, the Ravens tied it at 1-1. Trailing 2-1, they tied it at 2-2, and so on, until tying the game at 4-4 with just 29 seconds to play on an extra-attacker goal. After overtime went scoreless, Franklin Pierce and Sacred Heart ultimately skated to a 4-4 tie, with Sacred Heart earning the third-place finish via a 2-1 shootout win, in six rounds.

With the tie, Franklin Pierce finishes the season at 18-7-2, while Sacred Heart concludes its campaign at 18-9-2.

The goals came in bunches through the first two periods. Sacred Heart opened the scoring at 13:11 of the first, when junior forward Meghan Kebalka finished off a loose puck which bounced into the slot. She quickly put a shot into the left side of the net for her seventh goal of the season, before Franklin Pierce senior goaltender Shannon O'Neil (Tewksbury, Mass.) could slide across the crease. Sophomore forwards Brooke McGreen and Lilly Cleary picked up the assists on the play.

Franklin Pierce needed just 21 seconds to tie the game at 1-1, striking at 13:32. Freshman forward Meg Gilbride (Braintree, Mass.) took a shot from the slot which deflected off the stick of a challenging defender and wound up in the top-right corner of the net. Junior forward Alex Brolsma (Bloomington, Minn.) and senior forward Michelle Holmes (Goffstown, N.H.) picked up the assists on Gilbride's ninth goal of the campaign.

At 18:27, Sacred Heart reclaimed the lead, at 2-1, heading into the first intermission. Cutting into the high slot on a rush into the zone, sophomore forward Katie Stueve used a defenseman as a screen to collect her 12th goal of the year. Sophomore defenseman Savannah Hersey and freshman defenseman Jayne Lewis provided the assists.

The Ravens needed just 50 seconds in the second period to level the score at 2-2. Freshman forward Kayla Trujillo (Pueblo, Colo.) picked up her sixth of the season, off of assists from freshman defenseman Katie Neuburger (Fayetteville, N.Y.) and senior forward Alysha Raimo (Fitchburg, Mass.).

Less than two minutes later, at 2:34, Lewis' ninth of the year put Sacred Heart back out front on the power play. Her shot from the slot came off of a helper from Stueve and was the only special-teams goal of the day.

Franklin Pierce had the answer at 15:50, tying the game at 3-3 heading into the second intermission. Senior forward Lanie Matsumoto (Fort Collins, Colo.) -- who was later selected to the All-Tournament Team -- had the finish near the right post for her eighth goal of the year, while freshman forward Kelsey Holmes (Warwick, R.I.) provided the lone assist.

Scoring slowed in the third, as the two teams simply traded one goal apiece. Sacred Heart claimed a 4-3 lead at the 8:19 mark on the 21st goal of the season for junior forward Taylor Moreland. Stueve picked up her third point of the game with an assist, while junior defenseman Carly Radovich provided a helper as well.

Franklin Pierce got O'Neil to the bench for the extra attacker over the final 68 seconds, and the move paid off at 19:31. Gilbride banged home a rebound out front for her second goal of the afternoon, while Matsumoto and Brolsma provided the assists.

After the five-minute overtime went scoreless, the two teams went to a best-of-three shootout to determine which squad would finish third at the Open Tournament. Brolsma struck first, in the second round, while senior defenseman Amie Varano answered for Sacred Heart in the third round. In the sixth round, junior forward Hailee Craig (Canton, Mich.) made a move to deke her way around Sacred Heart sophomore goaltender Sarah Erban, but saw her shot bounce harmlessly off the left post. Immediately after, at the other end, senior forward Teagan Ketchum beat O'Neil to lift Sacred Heart to the third-place finish.

Per NCAA rules, the game statistically counted as a tie for both teams.

O'Neil (15-6-2) capped her career with 38 saves against 42 shots, while picking up the tie in net for Franklin Pierce. Erban (10-1-1) made 37 saves against 41 shots in the draw for Sacred Heart at the other end.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce women's ice hockey apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).