WINCHENDON, Mass. (2/26/23) – After fighting from behind in each of the first two games of the NEWHA quarterfinals against fifth-seeded Sacred Heart University, the fourth-seeded Franklin Pierce University women's hockey team put the Pioneers in the rearview mirror in game three, claiming the series with a 4-0 shutout victory on Sunday evening from Jason Ritchie Ice Arena.

The Ravens advance to the conference semifinal at top-ranked Long Island University (LIU) on Wednesday, March 1^st with the win, and improve to 18-14-3 (15-9-3 NEWHA) as their campaign continues. Sacred Heart closes their season with a 16-17-3 (12-10-3 NEWHA) overall record.

For the Ravens, things got off to a rather slow start in the first period. Despite having looks at the Pioneer net, Sacred Heart controlled much of the flow of play and took advantage of defensive miscues by the Ravens, eventually outshooting the hosts by a 13-11 margin through the first 20-minutes. However, Pierce would be the ones to make it count in opening frame, as sophomore forward Mikayla Kelly (Eagan, Minn.) cleaned up a rebound in the crease off an initial shot by senior Ava Kison (Eau Claire, Wisc.), sending the Ravens into the intermission leading 1-0 with her second of the series, and 16^th of the year.

It took all of two minutes for the Ravens to double their lead in the second period, following a scramble for a loose puck in the Sacred Heart crease. The first shot came directly off a faceoff win by the Ravens, which produced a rebound that eventually found its way to the stick of Emily Prive (Morrisville, Vt.), who poked it into the Pioneer net to make it 2-0.  Then, with 14:38 left in the period, the Ravens would jump ahead to 3-0 after graduate forward Lindsey Dumond (Hampton, N.H.) swept home another exposed rebound off Sacred Heart goaltender Carly Greene, securing her second point of the period. In addition to the pair of goals in the period, the Ravens pelted the Sacred Heart net with an 18-7 shots edge.

In the third, it was all about lead management for Franklin Pierce. Sacred Heart's offense saw ample opportunities to try and get on the board, but would ultimately fail to get one past Ravens' netminder Jill Hertl (Highland Park, Ill.). For good measure, senior Ava Kison would make it 4-0 Pierce with just 00:12 remaining in the game after carrying the puck into the offensive zone and lofting a nifty backhander over Greene's right shoulder. Senior defender Stephanie Caban (Fitchburg, Mass.) would lend the helping hand on the Kison solo-effort, game-winning goal.

In net, Jill Hertl (13-9-3) continued to be a driving force in the Ravens success, as she posted her sixth shutout of the season following a 29-save performance in net. Carly Greene (8-15-2) took the season ending loss for the Pioneers, stopping 40-of-44 shots faced.

 The stage is now set for the NEWHA Semifinal matchup between Franklin Pierce and LIU (18-13-3), with the puck hitting the ice at 3:00 p.m. at the Northwell Health Ice Center this Wednesday (3/1).