SHELTON, Conn. – Outhustled and outplayed on Friday evening, Post University Women's Ice Hockey allowed three first-period goals against Saint Anselm College at home and were unable to keep pace with the Hawks, who snapped the Eagles three-game winning streak with a 3-1 win over Post at the Sports Center of Connecticut. 

THE BASICS

Post University 1, Saint Anselm College 3 

Post University (8-16-3, 8-10-3 NEWHA)

Saint Anselm College (9-14-4, 9-8-4 NEWHA)

HOW IT HAPPENED
While junior goalie Hannah Saunders and senior goalie Annabella Lalande both made 12 saves in the first period, it would be the Hawks getting the better of Saunders on three occasions in those opening 20 minutes to take a 3-0 lead they would hold onto the rest of the evening. Sophomore forward Taylor Koeppl scored the first goal of the game after junior defenseman Ella Ridge's initial push into the zone. 

With the help of sophomore forward Alexis Poppleton's first shot off Saunders' pad, the sophomore regathered the puck and backhanded it to Koeppl who beat the Eagles' netminder with the shot only 3:30 into the game. Freshman forward Nicola Forth would proceed to tally the second goal of the evening for Saint Anselm after a two-on-one break with freshman forward Kismet Dogan was passed back and forth through the zone ahead of the shot with still 13:56 left.

Finishing off the high-scoring first period for the Hawks was junior forward Lily Hartnell with the help of junior defenseman Cora Webber's drive into the zone with less than 10 seconds left in the period. Webber's shot caromed off a few Eagle players to the stick of Poppleton who pushed it out towards Hartnell for the one-timer which she fired by Saunders to give her team a 3-0 lead heading into the second.

Nothing would do for the Eagles in the second period in hopes of chipping away at their deficit, despite a chance to go on the power play following a hooking penalty to Hartnell towards the midway point of the frame. Lalande would only have to make four saves in goal for the Hawks to keep Post off the board while Saunders quelled two Saint Anselm power-play opportunities to the tune of 12 more saves in a scoreless period for both sides. 

With her team-leading 13th goal of the season, senior Julia Wysocki inched closer to the season and program records set by Jenna Abeyta for goal-scoring in the third period with the help of senior defenseman Angeline Pitter and sophomore forward Celena Mickevicius. Scoring with just under nine minutes left in regulation, the goal wiped out Lalande's attempt at a shutout victory, but that would be all the offense for the Eagles on Friday night, falling 3-1, in the first of two this weekend against Saint Anselm. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• Julia Wysocki scored her 13th goal of the season and 27th of her career which puts her two away from the season record set by Jenna Abeyta during the 2019-20 season at 15 goals and three away from breaking the all-time record of 28 goals set by Jenna Abeyta 
• Annabella Lalande picked up her fourth win of the season, making 27 saves on 28 attempts against Post University this evening – This is Lalande's third career shutout in her career which has spanned four seasons 
• After allowing three goals in the first period, Hannah Saunders settled in to finish the evening with 35 saves on 38 shot attempts from Saint Anselm College in the loss
• Post University falls to 1-28-1 in the all-time series against Saint Anselm College and is now 0-13-0 at home all-time against them since their first game on November 10th, 2017 

WHO'S NEXT
Post University will do battle against Saint Anselm College once more in the regular season tomorrow afternoon at 2:30 PM at the Sports Center of Connecticut in Shelton, Connecticut.