FAIRFIELD, Conn. — After facing tough opposition through the month of October, the Sacred Heart University women's ice hockey team returns to the ice for the first time in November, taking on Franklin Pierce University for the first time this season. Puck drop at Martire Family Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m. both nights. 
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Pioneers fought hard but could not entertain the comeback attempt during Friday night's tilt against Saint Anselm, dropping a narrow contest at Sullivan Arena, 5-3, before falling on Saturday night, 5-1, as the Hawks doubled up the Pios in their first meeting of the season. 
 
In game one, the Red & White clawed their way back into the contest after surrendering the first four goals on the night. Isabella Chaput got the Pios on the board with under two minutes left in the second period before tallying the hat trick with two goals in the first seven minutes of the third period to make it a one-goal game. However, the Hawks regained the lead on the power-play to regain the two-goal advantage that they kept en route to a 5-3 win. 
 
SHU fought hard in game two but could not overcome the five-goal deficit in the third period, falling in the weekend finale, 5-1. Cassie Nevers earned the lone goal for the Pios, scoring her first of the season, corralling a loose puck near the crease and sending it into the back of the net to spoil the Saint Anselm shutout bid while SHU netminder Carly Greene accumulated a season-high 44 saves. 
 
RESEARCHING THE RAVENS
Franklin Pierce heads into Friday in fifth place in the New England Women's Hockey Alliance (NEWHA) standings, having been swept last weekend at home against LIU after having an offensive flare-up the weekend prior against Post. After outscoring Post 12-0 two weeks ago, including an 11-0 result in game two of the series, the Ravens were outscored by the Sharks 7-2 to drop their first conference games of the season. 
 
The Ravens are led by a trio of upperclassmen who are all tied with six points on the young season. Junior Alyssa Kawa's five goals leads the team, while senior Claire Casey and junior Mikayla Kelley have identical 2-4-6 score lines heading into this weekend. In goal, sophomore Jill Hertl has made five starts, posting an .898 save percentage and 3.48 goals against average en route to a 1-4-0 record this season. 
 
David Stockdale leads Franklin Pierce in his 12^th season with the Ravens, guiding the team to a 181-100-13 record and a NEWHA Tournament Championship (2022) in his tenure. The Ravens took the regular-season series over the Pios, 3-1, before earning the series victory in the NEWHA Tournament quarterfinals last year to knock SHU out of the postseason. 
 
HELPING HELGESON
Kate Helgeson now owns the team lead in assists with four helpers on the year after assisting on Chaput's second and third goals in last Friday's match against Saint Anselm. The junior forward notched a two-point performance in the season opener against Saint Michael's and earned her second assist on the year in SHU's opening tilt of the Ice Breaker Tournament against Lindenwood. 
 
Helgeson is having a career season with the Pioneers since transferring from nearby Quinnipiac over the summer. The Roseau, Minn., native has played in all nine games for the Pios, leading the team in points with a 2-4-6 line this year after going scoreless in her 24 appearances for the Bobcats during her two-year stint up the I-95 corridor. 
 
CHAPUT IN
Isabella Chaput now leads the Pios with four goals on the season after earning her first collegiate hat trick in SHU's 5-3 loss to Saint Anselm on Friday, October 27. Chaput's hat trick is the first hat trick by a Pioneer first year since Lauren Fontaine did so on January 11, 2008, in what was a 7-3 win over Cortland State. 
 
The Wixom, Mich., native scored her first collegiate goal in the season-opening 5-2 win over Saint Michael's on September 29 with an empty-net tally late in the third period. She is currently tied for second on the team in points (4) and has played in every game so far this season for the Red & White.