SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. (February 5, 2022) -- There was no early lull on Saturday afternoon in Vermont, as the Franklin Pierce University women's ice hockey team was all business from the start at Cairns Arena. The Ravens outshot host Saint Michael's 16-1 in the opening period, on the way to a 47-14 edge for the game, and scored twice in each stanza to post a 6-0 victory and finish off a weekend sweep in New England Women's Hockey Alliance play. Junior Becca Kniss (Eden Prairie, Minn.) led the way with two goals and an assist.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 14-8-1 (10-3-0 NEWHA) and has won six in a row, while Saint Michael's falls to 2-15-1 (0-11-1 NEWHA). The win for the Ravens finished off a four-game season sweep of Saint Michael's.

Franklin Pierce struck for the only goals it would need in the final six minutes of the first period on Saturday. Kniss got things started at 14:15, after she intercepted a pass in the neutral zone, navigated her way through a quartet of Saint Michael's defenders and put home her sixth of the year from the hash marks. Graduate student Katerina Dajia (Aurora, Ontario) followed up with her second goal in as many days with a power-play marker at 17:22, as she drove a shot through traffic from the right point shortly after an offensive-zone faceoff.

The Ravens would add two each in the second and third to build out the 6-0 final. In the second, a 4-on-3 power-play chance left enough open ice for a nifty, tic-tac-toe passing play to set up the ninth of the season -- and fourth of the weekend -- for graduate student Marissa Massaro (Brockton, Mass.) at 9:04. From the right circle, junior Ava Kison (Eau Claire, Wis.) found a seam across the slot to get the puck to fellow junior Kaitlyn Brightbill (Silver Spring, Md.) at the bottom of the left circle. Brightbill then worked it to Massaro at the top of the crease for the quick finish. Kniss followed and chalked up her first multiple-goal game of the season at 13:07, when she put away a rebound at the left post.

The fourth line got on the board in the third period, after freshman Cailey McLaughlin (McLean, Va.) went to work on the forecheck and forced a turnover on the left wing. The puck squirted free to junior Reece Diener (McKinney, Texas) high in the left circle, while McLaughlin came off the boards and started towards the net. A slick backhand pass past the defender on the scene reconnected the puck with McLaughlin at the bottom of the left circle, and the Old Dominion native cashed in her first collegiate goal from there, at 5:29.

The Ravens capped the day's scoring at the 10-minute mark, as Kniss finished off her three-point day by setting up sophomore Brooke Remington (Scandia, Minn.) in the right-wing circle. Remington pumped a shot in on the short side for her ninth of the campaign.

Sophomore Suzette Faucher (Middleton, Wis.) barely had to break a sweat, as she stopped all 14 shots on her goal to pick up the win (9-2-1) and her fifth shutout of the season. Sophomore Carissa Mudrak (0-7-0) finished with 41 saves against 47 shots at the other end of the ice for Saint Michael's.

The Ravens return home next weekend for a weekend NEWHA set against Post on Feb. 11-12. Opening faceoff is set for 7 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Saturday at Jason Ritchie Ice Arena in Winchendon.