RINDGE, N.H. (February 20, 2018) – Postseason ice hockey returns to the Jason Ritchie Ice Arena on Wednesday night, as the fourth-seeded Franklin Pierce University women's ice hockey team plays host to fifth-seeded Saint Michael's in the first round of the New England Women's Hockey Alliance Open Tournament. Opening faceoff is set for 7 p.m.

Franklin Pierce (14-11-2, 8-11-1 NEWHA) will host a first round game for the second straight year and, in fact, will host Saint Michael's in the first round for the second straight season as well. The Ravens have played in the weekend portion of the Open Tournament in each of their three years of eligibility for it. Franklin Pierce's best finish was as runner-up in the 2015 edition of the tournament.

Meanwhile, Saint Michael's (5-21-0, 5-15-0 NEWHA) visits Franklin Pierce in the first round for the second straight season. The Purple Knights most recently advanced to the weekend in 2016, when they finished fourth. Saint Michael's finished fourth in the Open Tournament on five straight occasions from 2012 through 2016.

NEWHA Open Tournament
(seeds in parentheses) 

Wednesday, Feb. 21
Game 1: (5) Saint Michael's at (4) Franklin Pierce -- 7 p.m.
Game 2: (6) Post at (3) Sacred Heart -- 7:30 p.m. 

Remainder of tournament hosted by Saint Anselm at Sullivan Arena (Manchester, N.H.).

Saturday, Feb. 24
Game 3: Game 2 Winner vs. (2) Holy Cross -- 1 p.m.
Game 4: Game 1 Winner at (1) Saint Anselm -- 4 p.m. 

Sunday, Feb. 25
Game 5: Game 3 Loser vs. Game 4 Loser -- Noon (third-place game)
Game 6: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner -- 3 p.m. (championship game)

Scouting the Ravens

Franklin Pierce has had to re-establish its identity in 2017-18, after losing six of its eight leading scorers from a year ago. Still, with a win on Wednesday night, the Ravens will reach the 15-win plateau for the fourth straight season.

The Ravens are led in scoring by a pair of freshmen, who are already threatening to re-write the program's record books over their four years in crimson and grey. Freshman forward Nicole Amato (Billerica, Mass.) has already set the school's single-season goals record, with 19 goals in 27 games thus far. She has also added 18 assists to lead the team with 37 points on the year. Hot on her heels is fellow freshman forward Marissa Massaro (Brockton, Mass.), who has tallied 33 points on 15 goals and 18 assists. The two are the first freshmen to post 30-point seasons in program history, and are just the sixth and seventh 30-point scorers in school history overall.

Behind the freshman duo is senior forward Alex Brolsma (Bloomington, Minn.), who has done some record book editing of her own this year, and is poised to do some more. She has tallied 29 points on 15 goals and 14 assists, which has run her career points total to 120 (47-73-120) through 103 games. She is already the school's all-time leader in assists and is just one point from matching Karsyn Baker '16 for the school's all-time scoring record.

In goal, senior Madison Murray (Berkley, Mich.) has carried the majority of the load for the Ravens, as she has logged 54% of the team's minutes. Through 16 starts, she owns a 9-5-1 record and has made 273 saves against 304 shots, to post an .898 save percentage and a 2.11 goals-against average.

Scouting the Purple Knights

On the other side of the ledger, Saint Michael's lost 12 in a row and one point this year and went through a 1-19-0 stretch from Oct. 27 through Feb. 3. Still, the Purple Knights' five wins thus far already marks an improvement over last season's 4-21-0 campaign.

Saint Michael's is led in the scoring department by senior forward Kaitlyn Wurzer, who has tallied 10 points on four goals and six assists. Wurzer is the lone Purple Knight with a double-digit point total, while senior forwards Ashley Dineen (6-2-8) and Katherine O'Brien (3-5-8) have notched eight points apiece.

Junior netminder Nicole Talcott has seen the lion's share of minutes in the crease for Saint Michael's, as she has logged 85% of the season's time. Over the course of 24 starts, she has made 767 saves against 852 shots to post a .900 save percentage and a 3.85 goals-against average.

Earlier this Season

The two teams met four times during the regular season this year, with Franklin Pierce taking victories in all four. The Ravens swept a two-game series from the Purple Knights at home on Nov. 10-11, winning 5-2 on Friday night (game story) and 4-1 on Saturday afternoon (game story). Freshman defenseman Carolyn Drowne (Bridgewater, Mass.) dished out three assists on Friday, while sophomore defenseman Bridgette Prentiss (Buffalo, N.Y.) did the same on Saturday. Prentiss (1-3-4) and Amato (2-2-4) finished with four points each on the weekend.

The Ravens had a little more trouble with the Purple Knights on the road on Jan. 26-27, but ultimately swept the weekend at Cairns Arena as well, with a 4-3 win on Friday night (game story) and a 3-0 victory on Saturday afternoon (game story). Prentiss had five assists on the weekend, including another three-helper outing on Friday, while freshman forward Kelsey Ryan (Burlington, Mass.) went for 2-1-3 on Friday night. Murray stopped all 18 shots she faced for the shutout on Saturday.

Previously in the Postseason

The Ravens and the Purple Knights have met in the Open Tournament in each of the last three seasons, with Franklin Pierce taking all three meetings and outscoring Saint Michael's 15-2 over the course of the three contests.

Last season, the two met at Jason Ritchie Ice Arena in the first round of the then-NEHC Open Tournament, with the Ravens coming away 3-1 winners (game story). Prentiss, Marisa Ketterman '17 and Michelle Holmes '17 each scored as six different Ravens tallied a single point each.

In 2016, it was a 6-0 win for the Ravens in the third-place game (game story), played on neutral ice at Saint Anselm. Baker and Sarah Sheils '16 did the heavy lifting, as each tallied two goals and an assist in the contest. Shannon O'Neil '17 stopped all 17 shots she faced to post the shutout.

The first postseason meeting between the two came in 2015, when Franklin Pierce notched a 6-1 win on the road at Saint Michael's (game story) in the semifinal round of the then-ECAC Open Tournament. Sheils led the way in that one as well, as a junior, with two goals and an assist.

Headed to the Game?

If you plan on making the trip to Winchendon on Wednesday night, directions to the Jason Ritchie Ice Arena can be found here: Rink Directions.

Admission will be free of charge for Wednesday's first round contest.

How to Follow Along

If you prefer to follow the action from home, from work or from elsewhere, both live video and live stats will be available.

Live stats || Video (pay-per-view)

Up Next

The winner of Wednesday's first round contest will advance to the weekend portion of the NEWHA Open Tournament, to be hosted by top seed Saint Anselm at Sullivan Arena on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 24-25. The Franklin Pierce/Saint Michael's winner will face the host Hawks in Saturday's second semifinal at 4 p.m.

Wednesday's other first round matchup features third-seeded Sacred Heart and sixth-seeded Post, two teams which, ironically, share a home rink. Sacred Heart will serve as the home team when the two play at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Sports Center of Connecticut in Shelton, Conn. The Sacred Heart/Post winner will play its semifinal at 1 p.m. Saturday at Sullivan Rink against second-seeded Holy Cross.

The NEWHA Open Tournament will wrap up on Sunday, with a third-place game at noon, followed by the title game at 3 p.m.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). 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 soccer apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).