SHELTON, Conn. – After a goal-filled Friday night match up between Saint Michael's College and Post University's Women's Ice Hockey where the Eagles outscored the Purple Knights, 3-1, the squads had a quick turn around as they hit the ice at 1:15 this afternoon for a rematch. The Eagles continued their win streak against Saint Michael's as they shut them out 1-0 thanks to a third period goal to give the Eagles their third conference with of the young season.

THE BASICS

Post University 1, Saint Michael's College 0

Post University (3-6-0, 3-2-0 NEWHA)

Saint Michael's College (0-6-0, 0-6-0 NEWHA)

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Purple Knights were able to start off with an advantage on the initial puck drop as they were awarded a powerplay at the start of the game due to a clock issue from the home team. However, the visitors were unable to capitalize on this early gift as the Eagles defense stayed strong keeping the score locked up at zero. Almost halfway through the first, the Eagles won the face off to start their shooting spree as it was followed by six shots within the next minute of action, however, they were unable to penetrate the net as Abbey Gyurko stayed sharp in goal for the Purple Knights. The Eagles continued to outshoot their guests in the remainder of the frame, including a last second shot from Noa Farberman which was turned down by Saint Michael's Victoria FitzGibbon to head into the second at a standstill.
Macy Peterson got the Eagles going in the next period as she won the face off, however, it was the Purple Knights who attacked the net first with three shots, all denied by the Eagles' stealthy goalie, Hannah Saunders. Just 3:42 after the whistle, the Purple Knights were given a penalty due to Roughing, giving the Eagles their first man-up opportunity but they were unable to use the extra man to grab the edge before the two minutes were up. Almost ten minutes later (14:33) the Eagles were given another power play opportunity where they were able to get a trio of shots in before the Purple Knight was released, but the score remained the same, 0-0.
 
Heading into a scoreless third period, the Eagles brought intensity right out of the gate, winning five faceoffs in a row as they were able to hold possession and take control for the majority of the start of the final frame. However, at the 5:37 mark, an Eagle was sent to the sin bin for Roughing, giving Saint Michael's a man-up opportunity where they fired off seven shots before the power play ended. Not long after, Saint Michael's Ella Oakes got called for high sticking to earn her a trip to the penalty box. The Eagles were effective on the power play as they started off with two shots on goal before Celena Mickevicius scored her first NCAA goal at the 10:18 mark thanks to a beautiful feed from Macy Peterson to take the 1-0 edge. In the final 10 minutes of regulation, the Eagles were able to hold their visitors scoreless to secure the shutout, 1-0.  

BY THE NUMBERS

• Eagle goalie, Hannah Saunders earned her first win and shutout of the season with 37 saves
• In the loss, Abbey Gyurko would make 30 saves on the 31 shots she faced from the Post University power offense
• Post University is now 3-1-0 on the season when scoring first in a game
• With the win over Saint Michael's, Post University is now 11-13-1 all-time against the Purple Knights as well as riding a three-game winning streak in the series
• This marks the best start for the Women's Ice Hockey program in NEWHA history as the Eagles are 3-2. The previous best was held in the 2021-2022 season when Post was 2-0 with back to back wins against Saint Michael's.
• Additionally, today's win ties the Eagles' second most conference wins with three, four being the last record set the previous year.

WHO'S NEXT
Post University continues NEWHA action next week when they travel to Manchester, New Hampshire to face the Saint Anselm Hawks on Friday, November, 3 with a 4:00 PM puck drop.