SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (December 11, 2021) -- Sophomore netminder Suzette Faucher (Middleton, Wis.) chalked up 36 saves on Saturday afternoon, as the Franklin Pierce University women’s ice hockey team closed out the season’s first half with the program’s first-ever win over ECAC competition. Freshman Mikayla Kelley (Eagan, Minn.), junior Katelyn Brightbill (Silver Spring, Md.), sophomore Emilie Prive (Morrisville, Vt.) and junior Stefanie Caban (Fitchburg, Mass.) all found the net at Messa Rink, as the Ravens tallied a 4-2 road win at Union to split the weekend series.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 9-8-1 and snaps a four-game losing streak. With the loss, Union falls to 4-16-1.

Union enjoyed a 38-18 advantage in shots on the afternoon, but Franklin Pierce did a better job of limiting quality scoring chances than it had on Friday night. The Raven penalty kill, which conceded three power-play goals on Friday, killed off all three shorthanded chances it faced on Saturday, and surrendered just four shots along the way. It was Faucher (6-2-1) who made it all stand up, as she stopped 36 of 38 shots on the way to the win, for her fifth career 30-save outing.

Union opened the scoring just 2:39 into the proceedings. Senior Cassidy Michalicka provided the feed from the left-wing side, and fellow senior Katie Sonntag was able to redirect it home out front to tally her first goal of the season.

Franklin Pierce finally caught a bounce at the 15:23 mark, to snap a long scoreless drought at 174:27. From below the goal line in the right-wing corner, Kelley spun and looked to throw the puck out front. Instead, it caught the skate of sophomore goaltender Olivia Rinzel at the right post and deflected to the back of the net for Kelley's second of the campaign, to level the score at 1-1.

The first 12 minutes of the middle stanza went scoreless, before the two teams combined for a trio of goals in a span of just 2:18. Franklin Pierce took the lead at 12:37, as junior Ava Kison (Eau Claire, Wis.) set up Brightbill in the left circle and the latter wired a shot to the top-right corner for her fourth of the year. The Ravens pushed the lead out to 3-1 at 14:01, after junior Bethany Ross (Canton, Mich.) forced a turnover at the blue line as Union failed to clear the puck. Ross worked it ahead for Prive, who roofed a backhand shot from the edge of the right circle for her seventh of the season.

The Prive goal spelled the end of the day for Rinzel (2-12-1), who left after making 10 saves against 13 shots over 34:01 in net. Sophomore Hope Crisafi went the rest of the way for the Dutchwomen and stopped all four shots she faced.

Union made it a one-goal game through two, with a marker at 14:55. Sonntag and freshman Maren Friday combined to get the puck to senior Grace Heiting in the middle of the blue line. Heiting let a blast fly from there, which managed to find its way untouched through traffic and slipped through the pads of Faucher, for Heiting's eighth of the season.

Franklin Pierce killed off a pair of penalties early in the third to preserve the lead, and the only scoring of the final stanza would be an empty-net insurance tally. Caban found the yawning cage from her own blue line at 19:36 to tally her first goal of the campaign and cap the scoring.

Saturday was the final game before the winter break for the Ravens, who will be back on the ice with a non-conference home series against Saint Michael's on Jan. 7-8.