MANCHESTER, N.H. (November 23, 2024) – The Stonehill College women's hockey team fell in a shootout, 2-0, to Saint Anselm College after a hard-fought battle through a combined 65-minutes of play in regulation and overtime. With the decision, the Skyhawks moved to 5-11-1 overall and 5-6-1 in conference play, while the Hawks are now 6-9-2 overall and 6-4-2 against NEWHA opponents.

Highlights

• Junior Bailey Feeney lit the lamp on her fifth goal of the season for the Skyhawks.
• Junior Kathryn Karo and co-captain Sydney Russell registered their fourth and seventh assists of the campaign, respectively.
• First-year netminder Alexsa Caron held the Hawks to one goal on 60 shots faced in between the pipes for Stonehill.
• Caron's saves mark was two shy of her program-record 61 saves made against Ohio State at the 2024 Women's Ice Breaker Tournament on October 25.  
• Senior forward Gracee Donovan netted her seventh goal of the season off assists from junior Sydney Merritt and sophomore Taylor Koeppl.
• Senior co-captain Heather McAvoy tallied a game-high four blocked shots on the afternoon.
• Junior goaltender Ava Hills recorded 32 saves inside the crease for Saint Anselm.

How it Happened
Five minutes into the first period, after a back-and-forth start, junior alternate captain Brianna Walkom sent a backhanded shot that redirected off a Hawks skate and narrowly drifted over the goal line for the game's first score.
 
Midway through the opening frame, the Skyhawks would jump out to the first lead of the game on the power-play when Feeney rifled a shot from the high slot into the top right corner of the Saint Anselm net for her fifth goal of the season.
 
With 8:30 left in the opening 20 minutes of action, Caron would step up in the crease and halt a point-blank scoring opportunity put on net by Paolucci. Following the Hawks's grade-A scoring chance, Caron and the Skyhawk's defense would stand tall on their defensive end of the ice, keeping Saint Anselm off the board to head into the break leading by one.
 
Saint Anselm would level the game at one aside at the 6:28 mark of the second period when Donovan capitalized on a deflected shot off the post by Merritt for her seventh goal of the year.  
 
With Just over two minutes left in the middle period, Hills would get a piece of an Achtyl wrist shot from the far side faceoff circle, with her stick to keep the game knotted at one heading into the second intermission.  
 
Coming out of the break, Caron and the Skyhawks defense would be called to action 90 seconds into the final frame of regulation. The first-year netminder and first-year defender Seina Spadone would dive across the crease to deny Saint Anselm of the wide-open net opportunity, keeping the game knotted at one apiece. At the 6:59 mark of the third, junior forward Gracie Sacca rocketed a shot just high of the Hawks crossbar, narrowly regaining the Stonehill first-period one-goal advantage.
 
Despite trading scoring chances through the final frame of regulation, the two sides would head into an extra frame knotted up at one apiece. Through the five minutes of overtime, a combined quartet of penalties would result in three power-plays for Saint Anselm in the extra frame. However, the Skyhawks penalty kill unit would stand tall and send the game into a shootout where the Hawks would walk away victorious by a score of 2-0 in the skills competition.

Up Next
Stonehill (5-11-1, 5-6-1 NEWHA) returns to action next weekend, hosting ECAC opponent Princeton University at the Bridgewater Ice Arena for a two-game Thanksgiving Weekend series. Puck drop of Friday's series opener between the Skyhawks and Tigers is set for 5 PM.
 
For the latest on Stonehill Athletics, follow the Skyhawks via social media on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.