Early Puck Luck Sinks Women’s Ice Hockey at Saint Anselm, 1-0
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Franklin Pierce (2-4-0, 0-1-0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
Saint Anselm (2-5-0, 1-0-0) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
MANCHESTER, N.H. (October 29, 2021) -- The only goal had a little fluke on it, and neither goaltender was beaten cleanly on Friday night at Sullivan Arena, as the Franklin Pierce University women's ice hockey team and Saint Anselm renewed their rivalry. Freshman Gracee Donovan got a fortuitous deflection early, and junior goaltender Allie Kelley made it stand up with a 40-save shutout, as Saint Anselm escaped with a 1-0 win. The game was the New England Women's Hockey Alliance opener for both teams.
With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 2-4-0 (0-1-0 NEWHA), while Saint Anselm improves to 2-5-0 (1-0-0 NEWHA). The two teams will wrap up the home-and-home weekend set at Franklin Pierce on Saturday. Puck drop is set for 3 p.m. at Jason Ritchie Ice Arena in Winchendon, Mass.
The game's lone tally came at the end of a seemingly innocuous rush up the left wing by Donovan. From the top of the left circle, she flipped a wrist shot, which deflected off the stick of the defender in the area and slipped past senior goaltender Emme Ostrander (Westborough, Mass.) on the short side. Freshman Madi Ressler had the lone assist on Donovan's first collegiate goal, at 3:53.
From there, neither team could buy a goal. Franklin Pierce came up empty, and also without a shot, on a pair of first-period power plays but started to pick things up in the second. The Ravens put five shots on net over the course of two second-period power plays, as part of a 13-11 edge in shots in the stanza.
Franklin Pierce buzzed the Saint Anselm net throughout the final 20 minutes, to the tune of 21 shots and more than 12 minutes of time in the offensive zone. In the end, the Ravens enjoyed a 40-26 advantage in shots for the night, but were unable to solve Kelley (2-5-0), who stopped all 40 to notch her first collegiate shutout. It was her sixth outing of 40 or more saves in the first seven games of the season.
Ostrander (0-3-0) was beaten just the once on the deflection at the other end and turned aside the other 25 shots she faced in the Franklin Pierce crease.