SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. (February 4, 2022) -- The Franklin Pierce University women's ice hockey team sputtered out of the gate on the road on Friday night, and faced a pair of two-goal deficits early on, but revved things into high gear soon enough. A five-goal second period was more than enough to turn the tide, and the Ravens eventually cruised to a 9-3 win over Saint Michael's in New England Women's Hockey Alliance play at Cairns Arena. Graduate student forward Marissa Massaro (Brockton, Mass.) notched her third career hat trick in the victory.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 13-8-1 (9-3-0 NEWHA), while Saint Michael's falls to 2-14-1 (0-10-1 NEWHA). Franklin Pierce will look to close out a sweep of the four-game season series between the two on Saturday, when they meet for a 4 p.m. faceoff at Cairns Arena.

It was Saint Michael's which punched first on Friday night, and put the Ravens on the back foot in the first five minutes. First, all three members of the Franklin Pierce fourth line got caught deep in the attacking end after a change of possession, as Saint Michael's took off on a rush the other way. Junior Ella Saracco took care of business herself, as she went top-shelf from the right circle for her fourth of the season, at the 3:31 mark. It took just 39 seconds for the Purple Knights to double the lead, as sophomore Jenna Hoops snapped home her fifth of the season from the top of the left circle at 4:10.

It took more than 10 minutes from there, but Franklin Pierce got one back at 14:58, after junior Stefanie Caban (Fitchburg, Mass.) led a rush up the right wing, but had her shot from the right circle saved by sophomore Leah White. Freshman Mikayla Kelley (Eagan, Minn.) -- the newly-appointed top-line center -- was on the scene at the top of the crease to salt away the rebound for her third of the campaign.

Saint Michael's needed only 80 seconds to reclaim the two-goal lead, with a power-play marker at 16:18. Senior Emme Ostrander (Westborough, Mass.) made the initial save on the play, as she stifled a shot by junior Sophia Burns from the right circle. Saracco had other ideas though, as she crashed the left post and knocked home the rebound for her second of the night.

In a sign of things to come, Franklin Pierce used a power-play marker at 19:42 to close the gap to 3-2 heading into the locker room. After an initial shot on the play by Caban, the Ravens had multiple chances out front, with Massaro eventually finishing things off for her sixth of the year.

The first intermission spelled the end of the night for Ostrander, who was lifted in favor of sophomore Suzette Faucher (Middleton, Wis.), and then the Ravens came alive with a five-goal outburst in the second stanza. A pair of power-play tallies surged the crimson and grey to the lead, as Massaro was out front to deflect home a feed from junior Ava Kison (Eau Claire, Wis.) in the right circle at 1:33, and then graduate student Katerina Dajia (Aurora, Ontario) blasted home her first goal as a Raven through traffic from the middle of the blue line at 6:43.

Franklin Pierce really turned on the jets after the midpoint of the frame, as the game started to get away from the Purple Knights. At 12:34, senior Kiki Doucette (Bridgewater, Mass.) took a long shot from the left point which appeared to deflect off the defense and in for her first of the year, while freshman Cailey McLaughlin (McLean, Va.) picked up her first collegiate point with an assist on the play. At 15:41, the Ravens had multiple chances on a lengthy stay in the offensive zone and sophomore Emilie Prive (Morrisville, Vt.) snapped home a loose puck at the bottom of the left circle for her team-leading ninth of the season. At 19:26, junior Reece Diener (McKinney, Texas) capped the busy frame by taking the shot herself on a 2-on-0 shorthanded rush for her second of the season.

Franklin Pierce cashed in two more in the third to win going away, 9-3. Massaro finished off her hat trick at 1:58, as she tipped home a shot from the right point by Caban. At 3:52, junior Cassidy Jones (Stillwater, Minn.) scored the team's second shorthanded goal of the night, as she went bar-down from the left circle for her fifth of the year. 

Ostrander made seven saves against 10 shots, left after the first period and did not factor in the decision. Faucher (8-2-1) took over for the next period-and-a-half and stopped all four shots against her net to pick up the win, as the Ravens locked down defensively from the start of the second period onward. Freshman Nettie Kimble (Bemidji, Minn.) came on for the final eight minutes and stopped the only shot she faced.

At the other end of the ice, White (2-7-1) played the first two periods and piled up 45 saves against 52 shots, but was saddled with the loss anyway. Senior Gabriella Decomitis took over for the third and made 13 stops against 15 shots.