WINCHENDON, Mass. (2/4/23) – A five-goal offensive outburst in the second period did the trick for the Franklin Pierce women's hockey team on Saturday afternoon against NEWHA opponent Sacred Heart University, as they routed the Pioneers, 7-1 to claim the weekend sweep at Jason Ritchie Ice Arena.

The Ravens push their unbeaten streak to six in a row, moving to 13-12-3 (10-7-3 NEWHA) on the season with the win at home. Sacred Heart drops to 13-15-2 (10-9-1 NEWHA) with the loss. The Ravens now move into sole possession of 4^th place in the NEWHA standings with the pair of wins this weekend.

The Ravens opened the scoring late in the first period, after senior forward Ava Kison (Eau Claire, Wis.) initiated the rush and centered a pass to freshman Mikayla Kelley (Eagan, Minn.) in the slot, who buried it past Sacred Heart netminder Carly Greene to give the Ravens the 1-0 lead.  

After the lone-goal first, the Ravens opened the floodgates in the second period, seizing every chance they got at the Pioneer net. Following a failed clear attempt by the Pioneers, senior Cassidy Jones (Stillwater, Minn.) tucked in a rebound off an initial shot by Jenna Ruiz (Webster, Wis.), making it 2-0 1:54 into the period. A few minutes later, Mikayla Kelley added her second of the night onto the scoresheet, extending the Raven lead to 3-0 as she followed up on her own rebound, sliding the second chance shot past Greene. For Sacred Heart, the bleeding continued as Delaney Bonifacio (Traverse City, Mich.) blasted home a seeing-eye shot from the blue line after just 00:44 after Kelly's second of the game, quickly making it 4-1 Ravens. The goal was the first of Bonifacio's collegiate career.

1:17 later, Jenna Ruiz wanted to get in on the action and scored the fifth unanswered goal for Pierce, as she slid a loose puck five-hole on relief netminder Molly Elmore off a point shot by Cassidy Jones. However, Sacred Heart spoiled the shutout bid at 12:51 of the second stanza, as forward Cassandra Nevers fired a clean wrist-shot past Raven starter Jill Hertl (Highland Park, Ill.) from the bottom of the right circle on the power play for the Pioneers lone goal of the game. To close out the offensive onslaught for the Ravens in the second period, Cassidy Jones banked the loose change in front of the Pioneer net on another rebound, this time off a shot by Avery Farrell (Otsego, Minn.) to make it 6-1 Ravens.  

For both teams, the action dwindled down in the third period. With a 6-1 lead in hand, the lone goal in the third came off the stick of first-year forward Memphis Mertens (Roseau, Minn.), who wired home a wrist shot from the low-slot to also secure the first goal of her collegiate career.

Raven starter Jill Hertl (11-8-3) earned her second win in as many days against Sacred Heart, stopping 30-of-31 shots thrown her way in the effort. Pioneers' starter Carly Greene suffered the loss, making 13 saves on 17 shots faced. Molly Elmore came in relief and made 15 saves on 18 shots.

The Ravens will travel to Shelton, Conn. to take on the Post University Eagles on Friday (2/10/23) afternoon for a 2:00 p.m. faceoff.