BRIDGEWATER, Mass. (January 7, 2023)- Going into the third period with Stonehill up one and both sides nearly even in shots in a game where goals were hard to come by, Maddison Achtyl netted a clutch goal and gave the Stonehill College women's ice hockey team a crucial 2-1 New England Women's Hockey Alliance win over Sacred Heart University Saturday afternoon.

Scoring

STO: Katie Sonntag (Alexis Petford, Paige Whaley), 18:13-1st period

        Maddison Achtyl, 06:43-3rd period

SHU: Sydney Antonakis (Julianna Koman), 15:36-3rd period

Goaltending

STO: Hanna Zukow (59:52)-25 saves

SHU: Carly Greene (4-10-0)-16 saves

The Details

• After a sluggish opening start by both sides, the Skyhawks struck first when Whaley from center ice swung the puck ahead to a skating Petford on the left side. From the face-off circle, she flung a pass toward the Pioneers net looking for Sonntag and while the pass was high, it deflected off the "C" patch on the captain's jersey and snuck by Greene for the 1-0 lead.
• The second period saw no goals scored, but the Stonehill offense continued to stay aggressive as the squad outshot Sacred Heart, 7-6. While the offense continued to apply pressure on Greene, Zukow was solid in net as she stopped all Pioneer shots to maintain the slim one-goal lead.
• As the third got underway, the Purple and White had a great opportunity as the Skyhawks generated a five-on-three power play opportunity but were unfortunately stopped during that extra skater advantage. Despite not capitalizing on the powerplay, Achtyl scored a crucial insurance goal after putting back her initial miss that gave the Purple and White a 2-0 advantage. 
• Sacred Heart would not go quietly as Antonakis rifled a shot past Zukow's upper glove side and made it a one-goal game. However, that is the closest the Pioneers got as Zukow stopped the rest of Sacred Heart's shots which included a sprawling save that saw her reach to the other side of the net and stopped Nicole Guidi's attempt.

Up Next

Stonehill continues NEWHA play with a two-game home and home next Friday, January 13 at Franklin Pierce with puck drop set for 7:30 p.m.

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