Marisa Massaro

Women’s Ice Hockey Takes Care of Anna Maria, 3-0

MARLBOROUGH, Mass. (February 9, 2019) – The goals did not come easy on Saturday afternoon for the Franklin Pierce University women's ice hockey team, but in the end there were more than enough of them to pick up a 3-0 win on the road at Anna Maria. The Ravens rang up an advantage of 66-7 in shots on goal in a dominant performance against the first-year AMCATS. Sophomore forwards Nicole Amato (Billerica, Mass.), Marissa Massaro (Brockton, Mass.) and Haley Parker (Londonderry, N.H.) had the goals for Franklin Pierce in the non-conference victory at New England Sports Center.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 17-9-1, while Anna Maria falls to 2-14-1.

The Ravens were dominant throughout on Saturday, even if they were unable to capitalize often enough to really light up the scoreboard. The Ravens piled up shots advantages of 23-1 in the first, 15-3 in the second and, most lopsidedly, 28-3 in the third, on the way to the 66-7 total.

Anna Maria freshman goaltender Gabrielle Ohanesian (2-7-0) had arguably the most impressive day of any player on the ice. Despite the Ravens buzzing her crease all afternoon, she did solid work limiting rebounds, which all but negated Franklin Pierce's ability to capitalize on second-chance opportunities. Ohanesian finished with an eye-popping 63 saves against 66 shots. Stunningly, it was not even a season-high total for the freshman netminder, as she previously made 66 saves against 72 shots in a 6-0 loss to Johnson & Wales on Jan. 26. It was her third performance of 50-plus saves on the season.

For much of the afternoon, the only scoring was a first-period power-play tally. From the middle of the blue line, junior defenseman Katie Neuburger (Fayetteville, N.Y.) sent the puck into the left circle for junior forward Meg Gilbride (Braintree, Mass.). Gilbride found a seam across the slot and threaded a pass to Amato, who rifled home a one-timer from the right circle for her team-leading 16th goal of the season, at 17:56.

After a scoreless second, the Ravens would ultimately tack on a pair of insurance tallies late in the third to create the 3-0 final. Junior defenseman Delaney Guimont (Bedford, N.H.) played a shot towards the net from the middle of the blue line, and the puck was deflected twice en route. Junior forward Alli Sugar (Canton, Conn.) got a piece of the puck while cutting across the slot from right to left, and Massaro tipped it again at the top of the crease to beat Ohanesian at 16:18. It was Massaro's 11th goal of the campaign.

Finally, in the final two minutes, Massaro worked the puck to Sugar, who circled behind the net, moving from right to left. As she cleared the goal cage on the left-wing side, she slipped a centering feed out front for Parker, and the latter banged it home for her 15th goal of the season, to cap the scoring at 18:39.

Junior goaltender Jessica Strack (Reading, Mass.) was forced to make only seven saves to post her second shutout of the season and pick up the win (3-2-0) in net for Franklin Pierce.

The Ravens return to the ice on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 15-16, when they return home to host Post in a New England Women's Hockey Alliance weekend series to wrap up the regular season. Opening faceoff is set for 2 p.m. Friday and noon Saturday at Jason Ritchie Ice Arena in Winchendon, Mass. 

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (https://www.fpuravens.com). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce hockey apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (https://www.fpuravens.com/store).