SHELTON, Conn. (November 17, 2017) – The third period was a long, uphill battle for the Franklin Pierce University women's ice hockey team on Friday night. Trailing by three goals entering the frame, the Ravens rallied all the way back, capping the comeback with a shorthanded, extra-attacker goal by freshman forward Haley Parker (Londonderry, N.H.) to tie things up with just 33 seconds to play. However, it was Sacred Heart which would have the final word at Sports Center of Connecticut, as the Pioneers struck with only 52 seconds to play in overtime. Senior forward Meghan Kebalka cashed in the game-winning goal to send the hosts away with a 5-4 win.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 3-5-0, while Sacred Heart improves to 6-3-0. The two teams will meet again in Shelton on Saturday to wrap up the two-game weekend series. Opening faceoff is set for 6:30 p.m.

Sacred Heart opened the scoring after the midway point of the first period, at the 11:54 mark. Senior forward Brittany Smith took a shot from the right point, which was redirected in the slot by junior forward Haley Payne, who notched her third goal of the season. Kebalka tacked on an assist on the play as well.

Franklin Pierce evened things up less than three minutes later, at 14:41. Freshman forward Kelsey Ryan (Burlington, Mass.) forced a turnover at her own blue line and took off down the left-wing side of the ice. She snapped a shot from the top of the left circle, which Sacred Heart senior goaltender Devan Kane got a glove on, but could not catch. The puck went off of Kane's glove, popped up in the air behind her and wound up in the net for Ryan's second goal of the campaign.

The Pioneers needed just 53 seconds to reclaim the lead, at the 15:34 mark. Payne had the puck on the right-wing side on a rush into the offensive end and threw it towards the goalmouth. The puck came back off the pads of Franklin Pierce senior goaltender Madison Murray (Berkley, Mich.), and Smith finished off the rebound from the low slot for her second goal of the year.

Sacred Heart used a pair of early second-period goals to grow the lead to 4-1. First, at 3:19, the Pioneers scored on what was merely a dump-in attempt. As her team was changing, freshman defenseman Marissa Letizio threw the puck towards the net from the right-wing side of the neutral zone. She wound up with her second goal of the season, as the puck eluded Murray and slipped inside the left post.

Just 67 seconds later, senior forward Taylor Moreland put home her team-leading seventh goal of the season. She was already moving down the slot as she took a feed from the right-wing side by Payne. Moreland ultimately corralled the puck and slipped it inside the right post at 4:26, while sophomore defenseman Jayne Lewis picked up an assist on the play as well. The fourth Sacred Heart goal spelled the end of the night for Murray, who was relieved by freshman goaltender Kelly Turney (Fort Gratiot, Mich.).

Franklin Pierce used the power play to fuel its third-period comeback. First, freshman forward Nicole Amato (Billerica, Mass.) walked out of the right-wing corner, into the bottom of the right circle and picked the top-right corner of the net, over the glove shoulder of Kane, at 7:28. Freshman defenseman Carolyn Drowne (Bridgewater, Mass.) had the lone assist on the power-play tally, which was Amato's fourth goal of the campaign.

The Ravens scored on the man-advantage again at 16:08, to close the gap to 4-3. Sophomore forward Katie Neuburger (Fayetteville, N.Y.) sent a floating shot toward the net from the right point. The fluttering puck deflected off the body of senior forward Alex Brolsma (Bloomington, Minn.) and into the back of the net for Brolsma's fourth goal of the year. Drowne tacked on a helper on the play as well, while the goal marked Brolsma's 99^th career point.

Franklin Pierce pulled Turney in favor of the extra attacker in the closing minute of the third and completed the comeback with a shorthanded tally at 19:27. Parker took the puck behind the net with speed, moving from the left-wing corner toward the right-wing side. She used her speed to beat Kane to the right post and stuffed home a wraparound attempt to notch her second goal of the season, unassisted.

It was Sacred Heart which struck last, however, with a goal late in the overtime period. Franklin Pierce turned the puck over just after clearing its own zone, which led to Kebalka heading a rush down the left-wing side. She took a slap shot from the left-wing circle which wound up much like Ryan's goal earlier. Turney got her glove to Kebalka's shot, but could not hold it, and the puck wound up in the goal for the game-winning tally. Kebalka's fifth goal of the season came unassisted, at 4:08.

Murray finished with just 10 saves against 14 shots over 24:26 of work and did not factor in the decision for Franklin Pierce, thanks to the third-period comeback. Turney (1-3-0) stopped nine of 10 shots the rest of the way and suffered the loss for the Ravens. At the other end of the ice, Kane (3-1-0) needed to make only 18 stops against 22 shots to pick up the win 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).