Sacred Heart Slips Past Women’s Ice Hockey in OT, 2-1

SHELTON, Conn. (November 16, 2018) – It was yet another one-goal game between the women's ice hockey teams of Franklin Pierce University and Sacred Heart University. It was yet another overtime game as well. Once again, things ultimately broke in favor of Sacred Heart. Junior defenseman Jayne Lewis put home the game-winning goal 48 seconds into overtime on Friday afternoon, as the home-standing Pioneers posted a 2-1 victory over the Ravens in New England Women's Hockey Alliance play at Sports Center of Connecticut.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 5-4-0 (3-4-0 NEWHA), while Sacred Heart improves to 7-3-1 (3-1-1 NEWHA). The two teams will meet again on Saturday to wrap up the weekend series. Opening faceoff is set for 4 p.m. at Sports Center of Connecticut.

It was the ninth straight game between the two teams to be decided by one goal or fewer, a stretch which dates back to Dec. 6, 2015. Improbably in a run of such tightly-contested games, Sacred Heart has posted a 6-0-3 record against Franklin Pierce over the stretch, to take an 11-6-4 advantage in the all-time series. Friday's game was also the fifth of the last nine meetings between the two to go to overtime, with the Ravens holding an 0-2-3 record in those contests. Sacred Heart has now won one-goal decisions in each of its last five games against Franklin Pierce.

As has become typical between the two teams, Friday afternoon's meeting was statistically even, and a bit of a defensive battle. The two sides combined for just the three goals on 56 shots on goal, which were split evenly at 28 apiece.

Franklin Pierce piled up 13 first-period shots, but could not solve Sacred Heart senior goaltender Sarah Erban, as the game remained scoreless into the first intermission. The Pioneers answered with 11 second-period shots and eventually provided the game's first goal at the 18:46 mark. Freshman forward Samantha Shoebottom cashed in her fifth goal of the season, off of assists from senior forward Haley Payne and freshman forward Cannady Taleghani.

The Ravens would answer shortly on the other side of the second intermission, at 3:47 of the second period. It was the team-leading seventh goal of the season for sophomore forward Nicole Amato (Billerica, Mass.), who was assisted by fellow sophomore forward Ann Margaret DiSciscio (Litchfield, N.H.).

The remainder of the third would go without further scoring, which set the stage for Lewis' overtime heroics. Just 48 seconds into the extra session, the Pioneers' leading scorer put home a rebound for her team-leading sixth goal of the season, while junior forward Maddie Bishop was credited with the lone assist.

Freshman goaltender Emme Ostrander (Westborough, Mass.) made her first collegiate start in net for Franklin Pierce and finished with 26 saves against 28 shots while suffering the loss (0-1-0). Erban (5-1-1) stopped 27 of the 28 shots on her goal in the win for Sacred Heart.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (https://www.fpuravens.com). 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 hockey apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (https://www.fpuravens.com/store).