WINCHENDON, Mass. (February 2, 2018) – In a crisply-played game on Friday night at the Jason Ritchie Ice Arena, the Franklin Pierce University women's ice hockey team surrendered just a pair of power-play goals. Unfortunately for the Ravens, they could muster only one goal of their own in a 2-1 loss to visiting Sacred Heart in New England Women's Hockey Alliance play. Sophomore forward Victoria Grimmer put home the game-winner for the Pioneers on the backhand in the third period.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 12-8-2 (6-8-1 NEWHA), while Sacred Heart improves to 21-5-1 (10-4-1 NEWHA). For Franklin Pierce, it marked the third one-goal loss to Sacred Heart in as many meetings this season. The two teams will meet again on Saturday to wrap up the four-game season series. Opening faceoff is set for 4 p.m. at Jason Ritchie Ice Arena.

The two teams traded goals in a span of just 2:15 in the middle of the first period. The Ravens opened the scoring at 9:49, just 13 seconds after the expiration of what would be their lone power-play opportunity of the night. Sophomore defenseman Katie Neuburger (Fayetteville, N.Y.) sent the puck towards the net from the middle of the blue line, but the shot was inadvertently knocked down by freshman forward Haley Parker (Londonderry, N.H.). The puck ricocheted to the right-wing side of the net, where senior forward Alex Brolsma (Bloomington, Minn.) was able to track it down and put it home for her 12^th goal of the season.

Sacred Heart evened things up with a power-play marker at the 12:04 mark. From the middle of the blue line, sophomore forward Jayne Lewis worked the puck over to sophomore defenseman Olivia Bryant in the right circle. Bryant stepped into a one-time shot from there, which was stopped by Franklin Pierce senior goaltender Madison Murray (Berkley, Mich.). However, the rebound came straight to senior forward Taylor Moreland at the bottom of the left circle. Moreland had an all-but empty net to finish off her team-leading 24^th goal of the campaign.

The game remained even through two after a scoreless second, with Franklin Pierce holding an 18-14 edge in shots through two periods. Sacred Heart really clamped down in the third though, as the Pioneers held the Ravens without a shot through the first 14 minutes of the final frame. In all, Sacred Heart would amass an 11-3 shots advantage in the third period, to make the final margin 25-21 in favor of the Pioneers.

The lone goal of the third stanza was the game-winner, which came on the power play at 13:47. This time, Moreland started the play, as she curled from the top of the left circle to the middle of the blue line and sent the puck towards the net. There were two Pioneers out front, which proved to overwhelm the Franklin Pierce penalty kill. The shot hit the skates of sophomore forward Maddie Bishop outside the top of the crease and re-directed towards the right side. The deflection left Murray scrambling for position as Grimmer quickly cleaned up the loose puck on the backhand for her 10^th goal of the year.

Franklin Pierce got Murray to the bench in favor of an extra attacker for the final 62 seconds, but could not find the equalizer. Sacred Heart saw an empty-net bid clang off the left post just ahead of the final buzzer, as the final score remained at 2-1.

Murray (7-3-1) made 23 saves against 25 shots, including a highlight-reel save in the second period to thwart a 2-on-1 in what was a tie game at the time. At the other end of the ice, junior goaltender Sarah Erban (13-3-1) stopped 20 of 21 shots to pick up the win in net for Sacred Heart.

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).