SHELTON, Conn. (2/11/23) - A full 60-minutes of unrelenting offense led the Franklin Pierce women's ice hockey team to a rout of NEWHA opponent Post University on Saturday afternoon, winning by a lopsided 8-0 score at the Sports Center of Connecticut.  

The Ravens claim an important win as the regular season winds down, moving to 14-13-3 (11-8-3 NEWHA) overall, placing them in fourth place in the conference standings. Meanwhile, the Eagles were unable to build off their momentum, and drop to 4-25-2 (4-17-1 NEWHA) on the year with the loss.

The scoring started early for the Ravens, as junior forward Jenna Ruiz (Webster, Wisc.) gathered the puck from sophomore Cailey McLaughlin (McLean, Va.) and delivered a shot from the right circle, beating Eagles netminder Hali Lawrence for the 1-0 lead just 00:12 in. A little over six minutes later, the Ravens would extend their lead to 2-0 courtesy of senior Stephanie Caban's (Fitchburg, Mass.) wrist shot from the left side circle, which then promoted a third goal of the period by sophomore Mikayla Kelley (Eagan, Minn.) two minutes later, placing Pierce in the lead by a comfortable 3-0 margin.

The Ravens continued the offensive onslaught in the second period with another trio of goals. At the 8:54 mark of the period, senior forward Cassidy Jones (Stillwater, Minn.) collected her own rebound in the slot and lofted the puck into the net to make it 4-0 Pierce. Exactly one minute later, Mikayla Kelley would score her second goal of the game, redirecting a shot in from the blue line by Stephanie Caban. At 16:30, Jenna Ruiz would also connect for her second goal of the game on a wrister shot in right in front of the Post net, giving Pierce a 6-0 advantage through 40-minutes.

The third period was no different from the first two, as Pierce once again made quick work of the action. Just 2:31 into the final frame, Claire Casey (Superior, Wisc.) cleaned up a rebound in front of the crease to extend it 7-0 Ravens.  The official game-winner would not arrive till late in the third, with Ava Kison doing the honors off an Eagles turnover, scoring off another wrister from the slot to finalize the 8-0 win for Pierce.

In just her second collegiate start, first-year goaltender Olivia Klunowski (Toronto, Ontario) claimed her first career shutout to move to 2-0 on the season, stopping all 19 shots faced. On the Eagle's end, freshman goaltender Hali Lawrence surrendered six goals on 31 shots faced, and was eventually relieved by junior Grace Glasrud, who stopped 7-of-9. 

Women's Hockey will return home for their final regular-season series against 1^st place Long Island University (16-1-3) on Friday, February 17^th for a 2:00 p.m. puck drop Puck Drops at Jason Ritchie Ice Arena.