BRIDGEWATER, MASS. (1/15/23) – The Franklin Pierce women's hockey team got on the board first early in the second period, but failed to find the back of the net again after that against host Stonehill College on Saturday evening, falling to the Skyhawks by a 4-1 score in NEWHA action at the Bridgewater Ice Arena.

Overall, the Ravens drop to 8-12-2 (5-7-2 NEWHA) following their third consecutive setback, as well as their fourth over their last five matchups. Stonehill, after claiming the win yesterday over the Ravens, evens-out at 12-12-1 (9-7-0 NEWHA) with the home victory.

Both teams played through a tightly contested opening frame that saw Franklin Pierce outshoot Stonehill 11-8. However, despite both teams having plentiful chances, the score would remain deadlocked at 0-0 through the first 20-minutes.

The second period finally brought some offense to the table, and it came just 2:40 after the puck hit the ice. Senior defender Stefanie Caban (Fitchburg, Mass.) broke the silence for Pierce with her third goal of the season, with the tally coming unassisted. However, the Ravens ran into penalty trouble following the opening goal, and eventually surrendered the equalizer to Stonehill's Alexis Petford on the power-play, once again locking the teams up at 1-1. After outshooting the Skyhawks in the first frame, Stonehill flipped the script in the second by the exact same shot totals, as the two squads entered the final period with the 1-1 tie.

Stonehill didn't wait too long in the third period to score their first lead of the evening, potting the go-ahead goal just 3:48 in from forward Kathryn Karo. From then onward in the third period, Pierce had a pair of power-play opportunities (three in total) to try and tie things up, but could not capitalize on any of their chances. At the 14:28 mark of the third, Stonehill scored the insurance goal off the stick of freshman Lily Geist, pulling ahead 3-1 with time rapidly expiring. With the Raven goalie pulled, Stonehill finished things off with an empty netter with 1:49 left to play, finalizing the score at 4-1.

Freshman starter Jill Hertl (Highland Park, Ill.) returned to the crease for Pierce, playing 59:41 while making 25 saves on 28 shots faced in the loss. Stonehill's Hannah Zukow (9-7-1) claimed the win in net for the host team, stopping 29-of-31 shots.

Women's Hockey gears up for an upcoming weekend road series with Saint Michael's College, beginning on Friday, January 20^th at 6:10 p.m.