Stone picked up her 11th win of the season after stopping 36 shots in between the pipes. (Photo Credit Mary Gettens).

MANCHESTER, N.H. (February 17, 2024) – The Stonehill College women's ice hockey team closed out its 2023-24 regular season Saturday night with a, 2-1, narrow win over Saint Anselm College. The Skyhawks finish the regular season with an overall record of 17-15-2 and 17-9-2 in conference play, while the Hawks round out the year 18-14-1 overall and 18-9-1 against NEWHA opponents.

Highlights

• Sophomore Lucie Turcotte scored her fifth goal of the season, while senior captain Paige Whaley netted her ninth of the year.
• Sophomore defender Sarah Taylar registered her fourth assist of the year on Whaley's game-winning goal.
• Sophomore goaltender Eve Stone picked up her 11th win of the season in goal for the Skyhawks after stopping 36 of her 37 shots faced on the night.
• Senior Claire Weber scored the lone goal for the Hawks, marking her 10th of the season.
• First-year netminder Courtney Stagman tallied 27 saves in between the pipes for Saint Anselm.

How it Happened

• Stonehill nearly opened the scoring four minutes into the conference matchup as sophomore Maddison Achtyl poked a puck toward the goal line. As the puck glided over the line, the Hawks's defense swept it away, keeping the game scoreless early in the first.
• Saint Anselm gained a grade-A scoring chance at the 9:51 mark of the opening frame as junior Grace Donovan found herself alone in front of the Stonehill goal. However, Stone would stand tall in net, making a blocker save to keep the game scoreless.
• The Skyhawks would reward their netminder's efforts with 7:33 left in the first after Turcotte went on the breakaway and rifled a shot over the shoulder of Stagman in goal to give Stonehill the first lead of the game.
• Throughout the middle frame, both sides would go back and forth, trading shots, playing to a 1-0 score in favor of the Skyhawks heading into the third.
• Stonehill wasted little time applying the offensive pressure coming out of the second intermission as Whaley redirected a shot off the blue line by Taylar into the back of the cage to extend the Skyhawk's lead to two goals just 1:50 into the third period. 
• With 1:37 left in regulation, the Hawks would cut the deficit in half as Weber scored on a rebounded shot off the stick of senior Natalie Tulchinsky.

  Whaley scored what would prove to be the game-winner 1:50 into the third period. (Photo Credit Mary Gettens).

• Despite the late score and power-play opportunity for Saint Anselm, Stone, and Skyhawk's defense would hold tough and stifle the Hawks' offensive attack to secure the two-game sweep. 

Noteworthy

• Saint Anselm outshot Stonehill, 37-29, while also winning the faceoff battle, 22-16, over the Skyhawks.
• Sophomore forward Alexis Petford finished with a team-high four shots on goal.
• Sophomore defender Maeve Carey tied for the game-high with three blocked shots.

Up Next

Stonehill (17-15-2, 17-9-2 NEWHA) will faceoff against Assumption University in the opening round of the NEWHA playoffs next weekend. Puck drop of Friday's opener between the Skyhawks and Greyhounds is set for 7 p.m.

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