SHELTON, Conn. (February 26, 2022) -- There was a lot of time spent not scoring, for both the Franklin Pierce University women's ice hockey team and Sacred Heart, in Saturday afternoon New England Women's Hockey Alliance action on the lower rink at Sports Center of Connecticut. The first period of the regular-season finale went by without a goal. The second period went by without a goal. The first five minutes of the third went by without a goal, and then the first TEN minutes did as well. Finally, at the 10:26 mark of the third, the levee finally broke.

Working on the power play on the right side, junior Becca Kniss (Eden Prairie, Minn.) sent the puck up top for fellow junior Stefanie Caban (Fitchburg, Mass.). Caban sent a low shot to the net from there, and a third junior, Ava Kison (Eau Claire, Wis.) was stationed between the hash marks to deflect the puck between the pads of Sacred Heart senior goaltender Frankie Sanchez for her 10^th goal of the season.

It would stand as the only goal of the game.

A big goal it was though, as Franklin Pierce improved to 20-9-1 (16-4-0 NEWHA) and claimed a share of the NEWHA regular season title. The Ravens finished tied at the top of the standings with Long Island University, which chalked up a simultaneous, 5-1 victory over Post on the upper rink at the Sports Center, to wrap up its season. Since the two teams split the four-game season series, Franklin Pierce's 16 NEWHA wins to LIU's 15 gave the Ravens the tiebreaker, the top seed, and hosting duties for next weekend's NEWHA Tournament. Franklin Pierce will host the semifinals on Friday, March 4, at 3 and 7 p.m., and the final on Saturday, at 7 p.m., at Jason Ritchie Ice Arena in Winchendon, Mass.

The 20^th win of the season gave Franklin Pierce the fourth 20-win season in the program's 10-year history. Excluding the significantly-shortened 2020-21 campaign, the Ravens have posted 20 wins in three straight seasons.

With the loss, Sacred Heart wraps up its regular season at 15-14-2 (10-8-2 NEWHA) and takes the fourth seed in the NEWHA Tournament. The Pioneers will host fifth-seeded Post in the first round on Tuesday, and the winner will head to Franklin Pierce for the semifinal round on Friday. Franklin Pierce and LIU earned first-round byes as the top two seeds.

Kison's goal set up a hectic final 10 minutes to Saturday's pivotal contest. The Ravens went on the penalty kill just 13 seconds after the goal, as junior Katelyn Brightbill (Silver Spring, Md.) was whistled for holding. The Ravens surrendered just two shots on the ensuing power play though, with graduate student Marissa Massaro (Brockton, Mass.) mixing in a blocked shot as well.

Later, Sacred Heart called its timeout with 2:19 to play, and pulled Sanchez for the extra attacker. Things were particularly frantic from there, as junior goaltender Suzette Faucher (Middleton, Wis.) turned aside four shots the rest of the way, including consecutive point-blank stops with just a minute to play. The final stops of the afternoon preserved a 34-save shutout, her sixth of the season (13-2-1).

Sanchez (11-14-2) was no slouch at the other end of the ice either, as she stopped 31 of 32 shots, including all 14 she faced in the second period, in a losing effort in the Sacred Heart crease.

Earlier in the day, neither team could find the net through the first two periods, as the regular-season finale took its tension deep into the afternoon. Sacred Heart held a 12-9 advantage in shots in the first frame, while Franklin Pierce chalked up a 14-8 edge in the second stanza. Quality chances were few and far between for both sides though, and both Faucher and Sanchez were equal to everything sent their way through 40 minutes.