WINCHENDON, Mass. (February 8, 2020) – A day after surrendering seven goals and coming up empty on the power play, the Franklin Pierce University women's ice hockey team clamped down and capitalized on its chances on Saturday afternoon at Jason Ritchie Ice Arena. The Ravens made Long Island pay for early penalty trouble, as a pair of first-period 5-on-3 goals stood as the difference in the end. Fittingly, senior defenseman Bridgette Prentiss (Buffalo, N.Y.) led the charge with a goal and an assist on Senior Day, as Franklin Pierce chalked up a 3-1 win over the visiting Sharks in New England Women's Hockey Alliance play.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 19-10-0 (11-7-0 NEWHA) and moves into sole possession of second place in the NEWHA standings. With the loss, LIU falls to 10-17-0 (10-8-0 NEWHA) and now occupies fourth place. The two teams split their four-game season series.

LIU opened the scoring just 2:24 into the proceedings. Deep in the left-wing corner, freshman forward Renee Hoffman looked to put a centering feed out front. Her pass deflected off the skate of freshman defenseman Julia Hoffman and ricocheted over to the top of the crease for freshman forward Stella Scott, who quickly rapped home her fifth goal of the season.

It would be all she wrote offensively for LIU though, as Franklin Pierce would pile up an 18-4 edge in shots in the opening period, on the way to a 35-21 advantage for the game. More than 10 minutes later, the Ravens would find the back of the net three times in a span of just 94 seconds to surge out front to stay.

First, junior forward Haley Parker (Londonderry, N.H.) won possession deep in the right-wing corner. She found some room to maneuver, walked the puck out front herself and snapped home her 16^th goal of the season at 15:14.

From there, LIU temporarily melted down and got itself in a whole mess of penalty trouble. At 15:48, Scott was assessed a five-minute major for contact to the head, as well as a game misconduct, for levelling junior forward Nicole Amato (Billerica, Mass.), who was cutting across the high slot in the attacking end. At 16:02, junior defenseman Morgan Schauer was whistled for tripping, which set Franklin Pierce up with an extended 5-on-3 advantage.

After an 0-for-6 performance on the power play Friday night, the Ravens did not let Saturday's first golden opportunity go by the boards, as the eventual game-winning goal came at 16:30. Freshman defenseman Stefanie Caban (Fitchburg, Mass.) had the initial shot on the play, which she put wide from the middle of the blue line. Freshman forward Ava Kison (Eau Claire, Wis.) tracked the puck down behind the net and fed Prentiss in the right circle for the latter's team-leading 17^th of the season.

The goal came in a delayed-penalty situation, and freshman defenseman Lauren Spino was subsequently ushered to the penalty box for a cross check, after clobbering junior forward Marissa Massaro (Brockton, Mass.) in front of the net as Caban sent her initial shot wide. The penalty put Franklin Pierce back on another two-player advantage immediately.

It took just 18 seconds for the Ravens to cash in on the 5-on-3 again, at 16:48. From the middle of the blue line, Prentiss sent to puck to freshman forward Becca Kniss (Eden Prairie, Minn.) on the right-wing half-wall. Kniss put the puck towards the net, and Amato was waiting at the edge of the circle to tip home her 12^th of the season and make it a two-goal game.

The game would go without further scoring the rest of the way, though it was not without end-to-end action. LIU had three third-period power-play chances to try to cut into the lead, but the Sharks came up empty on the first two and then squandered the third by taking a penalty of their own 32 seconds in. LIU ultimately pulled the goaltender for an extra attacker over the final 2:18, but could not put any further shots on net in the closing minutes, as Franklin Pierce came away with the important, 3-1 win.

Senior goaltender Jessica Strack (Reading, Mass.) got the Senior Day start in net for the Ravens and allowed one goal against two shots over the opening 5:14. Sophomore Emme Ostrander (Westborough, Mass.) took over from there and stopped all 19 shots she faced to pick up a bounce-back win (14-10-0) for the Ravens. Freshman Mia McLeod (6-7-0) made 32 saves against 35 shots in defeat for LIU.

The Ravens will wrap up the regular season on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 14-15, when they travel to Post for a pair of NEWHA games. Opening faceoff is set for 3 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Saturday at Sports Center of Connecticut in Shelton, Conn.

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 ice hockey apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' brand new online store (https://www.shopfpuravens.com).