SHELTON, Conn. – In their final home game of the calendar year, Post University Women's Ice Hockey looked to snap a nine-game losing streak against in-state conference rival, Sacred Heart University on Friday afternoon. But two goals and an assist from senior forward Paige McNeil and 30 saves in net by sophomore goalie Jillian Petruno would propel the Pioneers by the Eagles, 3-0, at the Sports Center of Connecticut in Shelton, Connecticut.

THE BASICS

Post University 0, Sacred Heart University 3

Post University (3-16-0, 3-10-0 NEWHA)

Sacred Heart University (8-12-0, 7-6-0 NEWHA)

HOW IT HAPPENED 
An evenly matched first period saw both team rifle off 14 shots apiece and 11 shots on goal against the Eagles' starting sophomore goalie Hannah Saunders and Jillian Petruno for the Pioneers with both matching each other in net. That would be until there were 53 seconds left in the frame when Sacred Heart would strike first. McNeil would win the faceoff in the offensive zone cleanly, corral the puck, and fire it by Saunders to give the Pioneers a 1-0 lead after one.
 
The latter part of the second period would be where the Pioneers made their move again on the offensive end, netting two goals just under two minutes apart from each other. Scoring her second goal of the game was McNeil after freshman defenseman Peyton Bennetts hit her with a pass following a neutral zone turnover by the Eagles. McNeil would work to the left of Saunder and the Post defense, firing into the top right corner of the net.
 
Following a tripping penalty to freshman forward Jet Devlin, sophomore defenseman Olivia Laroche would capitalize on the man-up advantage for the Pioneers. With a pass from McNeil behind the crease going to junior forward Sydney Antonakis on the right side, Laroche would receive the puck near the point and beat Saunders with the shot to make it a three-goal advantage for Sacred Heart with under five minutes left in the second.
 
Post would have their own chance on the man-up in the final minute of the middle period but would be unable to capitalize in the final 39 seconds or opening 1:21 of the third to put one past Petruno. That would be the first of four power plays that the Eagles would have in the final 20 minutes, including a 5-on-3 advantage with 4:55 left in regulation which would last for just under 40 seconds. However, Post would only manufacture a couple of shots during the opportunities which would be turned away by Petruno as the Eagles dropped the first game of the home-and-home, 3-0, on Friday afternoon.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Jillian Petruno got the shutout win in net for Sacred Heart stopping all 30 shots she faced from Post University – Petruno now has two career shutouts, both of which have come in back-to-back games against Assumption and now against Post
• Post University finished 0-for-5 on the power play, they are now 0-for-15 in their last five games on the power play with the last man-up goal coming against Franklin Pierce University on November 11^th
• In the all-time series, Post University is now 0-30-1 all-time against Sacred Heart University, but has only lost one straight to the Pioneers after tying 2-2 in their previous matchup last season in Fairfield, Connecticut
• The 10-game losing streak for Post is their longest since they lost 13 straight following a 1-1-0 start last season from October 4^th, 2022 until December 2^nd, 2022 when they defeated Franklin Pierce University on the road, 2-1

WHO'S NEXT
Post University will finish off the 2023 side of their schedule with a road matchup against Sacred Heart University set to take place tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 PM down in Fairfield, Connecticut.