WINCHENDON, Mass. (December 1, 2018) – The goaltending for the Franklin Pierce University women's ice hockey team surrendered five goals on just 25 shots on Saturday afternoon, as the Ravens came up short in the back end of a weekend series against Morrisville State on home ice. The visiting Mustangs tacked on an empty-net goal for good measure, as a three-goal third period lifted Morrisville State to a 6-3 win at Jason Ritchie Ice Arena. Junior forward Kylie Cameron tallied her first career hat trick to lead the Mustangs to the non-conference victory.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 7-5-0, while Morrisville State improves to 8-4-1.

For its part, Franklin Pierce came up with three goals on just 23 shots on the afternoon, as neither team's goaltending put together a particularly strong effort. The Ravens would open the scoring in the nine-goal affair at the 10:48 mark of the first period. Sophomore defenseman Carolyn Drowne (Bridgewater, Mass.) did the dirty work on the play, as she pinched forward and helped gain control on the right-wing side of the neutral zone. Sophomore forward Ann Margaret DiSciscio (Litchfield, N.H.) was on the scene as well, came away with the puck and carried into the offensive end. She ultimately set up sophomore forward Nicole Amato (Billerica, Mass.) in the high slot, and Amato picked the top-left corner from there for her team-leading ninth goal of the season.

Morrisville State drew level at the 16:25 mark, after some hard work of its own deep in the attacking end. Cameron and junior forward Jessica Ujcik crashed deep into the left-wing corner to overwhelm the Franklin Pierce defense and ultimately win control of the puck. Ujcik wound up poking it to Cameron, who walked out front from the corner. She would snap her third goal of the season home from the bottom of the left circle.

The Ravens needed just 35 seconds to reclaim the lead at 2-1 at the 17-minute mark. Junior forward Meg Gilbride (Braintree, Mass.) forced a turnover in the attacking end with a timely poke check, which liberated the puck directly to the stick of sophomore forward Haley Parker (Londonderry, N.H.) at the top of the left circle. Parker cut across the zone, powered into the right circle and put a backhand attempt on goal as she closed in on the right post. Morrisville State sophomore goaltender Karoline Årvik made the initial save on the play, but left a rebound right out front. Sophomore forward Marissa Massaro (Bridgewater, Mass.) was first on the scene and shuffled home the rebound for her sixth goal of the campaign.

A pair of quick strikes early in the second allowed Morrisville State to surge to a 3-2 lead. First, with the Franklin Pierce defense attempting to play the puck up the left-wing side of the neutral zone, Ujcik pinched to the wall to block the puck and force a turnover. She immediately pushed the puck ahead to Cameron, who led a 2-on-1 into the offensive end on the right-wing side. Cameron took the shot herself and went top shelf from the middle of the right circle to tie the game at 2-2.

Just 1:05 later, at 3:02, the Mustangs took the lead with the only power-play goal of the day. Off of a clean faceoff win in the left circle by senior forward Maria deWilde, the puck came straight back to sophomore defenseman Chyne Kennedy. Kennedy played a D-to-D pass to junior defenseman Taylor Finnie, who in turn sent the puck to sophomore forward Mackenzie Lombardi on the left-wing half boards. Lombardi returned the puck to the left point for Finnie, who sent a high wrist shot towards the net from there. The shot managed to snake its way untouched through traffic and fluttered into the top-left corner for Finnie's first goal since Jan. 27, 2017, during her freshman season.

The Ravens would draw even and make it a 3-3 tie headed into the second intermission, with Massaro's second goal of the day at 12:24. Parker forced a turnover in the neutral zone and carried into the offensive end. She cut to the hash marks and uncorked her shot, which was saved by Årvik. Again though, the netminder left a juicy rebound out front, and Massaro got there first to put the puck away and post her third career multiple-goal game. It was her first such game of the season.

The third period was all Morrisville State early, as Franklin Pierce was held to just one shot on goal and three shot attempts through the opening 11 minutes of the frame. The Mustangs took the lead for good just 69 seconds into the frame, at the 1:09 mark. Junior forward Tessa Dobson made a play on the puck on the right-wing side and worked it free for Cameron at the top of the right circle. Cameron slipped a pass into the high slot for Ujcik, who put her shot into the upper reaches of the net from there to tally her team-leading 11^th goal of the season.

The eventual game-winning goal spelled the end of the day for Franklin Pierce sophomore goaltender Kelly Turney (Fort Gratiot, Mich.), who was relieved by junior netminder Jessica Strack (Reading, Mass.).

Franklin Pierce was able to get a little something going thanks to a power play just after the midpoint of the frame. The Ravens generated four shots on the two-minute advantage, but could not put one home. The power-play chance accounted for half of the team's shots in the final stanza.

Morrisville State later tacked on an insurance marker at the 15:53 mark. After the Mustangs pushed the puck into the offensive zone on the left-wing side, the Franklin Pierce defense took control and attempted to use the boards to clear the zone. Instead though, they only succeeded in banking the puck directly to the stick of Cameron. Cameron took control, skated into the middle of the left circle and went top shelf to cap her first collegiate hat trick and finish off a four-point day (3-1-4).

The Ravens would get Strack to the bench with just over three minutes to play, but quickly surrendered an empty-net goal to create the 6-3 final. It was deWilde who started things by blocking a shot attempt in her own end. The puck caromed away to Lombardi, who cleared the zone and got the puck to junior forward Maddison Devlin in the neutral zone. Devlin sent the puck ahead and into the empty net from just outside the blue line to cap the scoring at 17:05.

Turney (3-2-0) finished with just 13 saves against 17 shots over 41:09 between the pipes and suffered the loss in net for Franklin Pierce. Strack stopped seven of eight shots over 19:43 the rest of the way. At the other end of the ice, Årvik (8-4-1) needed to make only 20 saves against 23 shots to pick up the win for Morrisville State.

The Ravens return to the ice on Tuesday, Dec. 4, when they travel to Saint Anselm for a New England Women's Hockey Alliance contest. Opening faceoff is set for 7 p.m. at Sullivan Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire.

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).