BRIDGEWATER, Mass. (November 22, 2024) – The Stonehill College women's hockey team fell to Saint Anselm College, 5-2, after a third-period push by the Hawks Friday night inside the Bridgewater Ice Arena. With the loss, the Skyhawks dipped to 5-11 overall and 5-6 in conference play, while Saint Anselm improved to 6-9-1 overall and 6-4-1 against NEWHA opponents.

Highlights

• Junior Gracie Sacca registered her second consecutive multi-point game after dishing out two assists on the night.
• Junior classmates Maddison Achtyl and Bailey Feeney each lit the lamp on their fourth goal of the season.
• Junior Kathryn Karo extended her point-scoring streak to two games after dishing out an assist while continuing her stellar season at the faceoff dot, winning 17 of her 22 total draws on the night.
• First-year netminder Alexsa Caron registered 28 saves in between the pipes for the Skyhawks.
• Senior Gracee Donovan and junior Brooklyn Schneiderhan fueled the Hawks' offense, scoring two goals on the night.
• Fifth-year senior Celesta Paolucci netted her first goal of the season for Saint Anselm.  
• Senior Tyra Turner dished out a pair of assists, while juniors Ella Ridge and Sydney Merritt, as well as first-year student Lucy DeCoteau each added helpers of their own on the night.
• Junior goaltender Ava Hills picked up her second win of the season after holding the Skyhawks to two goals on 30 shots faced inside the crease.

How it Happened
Stonehill came out of the gates strong, owning offensive zone possession and outshooting Saint Anselm 10-2 over the first nine minutes of action in the opening frame. Midway through the first period, after drawing a penalty and heading on the skater advantage, the Skyhawks would take the first lead of the game. Achtyl received a pass through the neutral zone from Karo and deked her way through the Hawks's defense before sending a shot over the glove of Hills and into the back of the cage, giving Stonehill a 1-0 lead midway through the first 20 minutes of play.
 
Following Achtyl's power-play goal, the two sides would go back and forth, trading shot attempts until the 15:10 mark, when Saint Anselm broke through and leveled the game at one side. Turner sent a pass from below the goal line to Schneiderhan, who capitalized and netted her sixth goal of the season and first of two on the night, knotting the game at 1-1 heading into the first intermission.
 
Within the first minute of the second period, the Hawks nearly doubled their advantage on the scoreboard when sophomore Natasha Lozowchuk attempted a stuff-in attempt from below the goal line. However, Caron would outstretch her left pad and stifle the Saint Anselm defender's bid for the back of the net, keeping the game tied up at one.
 
Senior co-captain Josie Mendeszoon followed Lozowchuk's scoring opportunity with a grade-A chance of her own at the 4:30 mark of the second. After retrieving a pass from Sacca, Mendeszoon would rifle a shot over the shoulder of Hills and off the bottom of the crossbar, narrowly regaining the Stonehill first-period one-goal advantage.
 
After Mendeszoon's shot off the crossbar, both Stonehill and Saint Anselm would skate up and down the ice, trading shot attempts until the 11:23 point of the middle frame, where the Hawks would grab their first lead of the conference contest. Paolucci would capitalize on a two-on-break into the Stonehill end with Turner for her first goal of the season and fifth of her collegiate career after forcing a Skyhawk offensive zone turnover.
 
Despite peppering Hills and the Hawks' defense with three shot attempts in the final 40 seconds of the middle period, the Skyhawks were unable to find the equalizer, heading into the third period trailing by one.
 
The Hawks would waste little time increasing their lead as at the 3:54 mark of the third, Schneiderhan would light the lamp on her second power-play goal of the night, giving Saint Anselm a 3-1 lead on the scoreboard. At the 8:14 mark of the period, it appeared as though Stonehill would cut its deficit to one. However, a Karo shot on goal would have what looked like a good goal waved off, leaving the score at 3-1 in favor of Saint Anselm. Less than 30 seconds following Karo's scoring chance, Feeney would successfully light the lamp on a wrap-around attempt for her fourth goal of the season.  
 
Saint Anselm would regain its momentum and score two additional goals to cap off the scoring and seal the 5-2 victory for the Hawks, both off the stick of Donovan at the 10:20 and 18:21 marks, respectively.

Up Next
Stonehill (5-11, 5-6 NEWHA) wraps up its two-game weekend set against Saint Anselm on Saturday. Puck drop between the Skyhawks and Hawks from inside Sullivan Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire is set for 1 PM.
 
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