BRIDGEWATER, Mass. (October 18, 2024) – The Stonehill College women's hockey team fell to Sacred Heart University, 4-3, in a back-and-forth battle at the Bridgewater Ice Arena Friday night. With the loss, the Skyhawks dropped to 1-5 overall and 1-2 in conference play, while the Pioneers improved to 3-2 overall and 2-1 against conference opponents.

Highlights

• Junior Bailey Feeney dished out a pair of assists, while first-year defender Reagan Whynot recorded her first career assist.
• Junior classmates Lily Geist, Gracie Sacca, and Maddison Achtyl each scored a goal for Stonehill.
• Geist and Achtyl lit the lamp on their second goals of the season, while Sacca netted her first of the year.
• First-year netminder Alexsa Caron tallied 25 saves in between the pipes for the Skyhawks.
• Junior co-captain Sydney Russell registered a game-high four blocked shots.
• Junior Kathryn Karo continued her solid season at the faceoff dot, winning 18 of her 25 total draws on the night.
• Sophomore Peyton Bennetts scored what proved to be the game-winning goal in the third period, marking her first career goal for the Pioneers.
• Sophomore classmates Grayson Limke, Cambell Heger, and Isabella Chaput each lit the lamp for Sacred Heart.
• Limke and Heger netted their first goals of the season, while Chaput scored her second of the year.
• Senior goaltender Carly Greene picked up her second win of the season after stopping 31 of her 34 shots faced inside the crease.

How it Happened
Sacred Heart wasted little time jumping out to an early one-goal lead, as just 1:37 into the conference matchup, the Pioneers lit the lamp on the game's opening goal. On a 2-on-1 breakaway, Limke would capitalize on a cross-ice pass from senior Sydney Antonakis for her first goal of the season.
 
Less than five minutes later, Stonehill would find the equalizer on the power play. After the Pioneers blocked a shot off the stick of senior captain Josie Mendeszoon, Geist would pounce on a loose puck in the slot and whistle a shot past Greene in net for her team-leading second goal of the year.
 
However, 90 seconds after Geist tied the game up at one, the Pioneers would regain their one-goal advantage at the 6:58 mark of the opening frame. Heger received a pass in the slot from sophomore Bria Holm and sent a wrist shot over the pad and under the blocker of Caron for her first collegiate goal.  
 
Following the three early goals in the first, the two sides battled up and down the ice, trading shots and power-play opportunities until the 14:51 mark, when the Skyhawks leveled the game at 2-2. On the power-play, Karo sent a saucer cross-ice pass to Feeney, who rifled towards Achtyl, who then redirected a shot into the back of the net past Greene.
 
Continuing the theme of back-and-forth play, Sacred Heart and Stonehill would trade a pair of goals in the waning minutes of the second period off the sticks of Chaput and Sacca to play to a 3-3 contest heading into the second intermission.
 
Throughout the opening 15 minutes of the third, the two sides played to an even matchup, with the Skyhawks outshooting the Pioneers 17-11 over the 15-minute stretch in the final frame of regulation. However, at the 16:47 mark of the third, a Bennetts shot would redirect off the skate of Stonehill defender at the top of the slot and into the top corner of the Skyhawk net, putting the Pioneers up by one with less than four minutes to play.
 
Despite a valiant effort, emptying the net with over two minutes left in regulation, Stonehill would be unable to light the lamp and find the equalizer late, as Sacred Heart walked away victorious by a final score of 4-3.
 
Up Next
Stonehill (1-5, 1-2 NEWHA) rounds out its two-game weekend set against Sacred Heart University on Saturday. Puck drop between the Skyhawks and Pioneers at the Bridgewater Ice Arena is set for 1 PM.    
 
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