FAIRFIELD, Conn. — The Sacred Heart University women's ice hockey team will hit the road this weekend for a best-of-three quarterfinal series with defending champion Franklin Pierce, to kick off the NEWHA Tournament. Games one and two will be Friday and Saturday at 4 p.m. and if necessary, game three will be Sunday at 4 p.m., at the Jason Ritchie Ice Arena in Winchendon, Mass. Fans will be able to watch live all three days on NE10 NOW.

The Pioneers have lost their last three to the Ravens and are 1-3-0 against them this year, with a combined score of 13-6 in favor of Franklin Pierce. In their meetings at FPU at the beginning of the month, the Ravens used 3-1 and 7-1 victories to leapfrog SHU in the standings and effectively secure home ice for this weekend's series. The squads enter the weekend rather evenly matched record-wise, with SHU's regular season record ending at 15-16-3 and 12-10-2 in conference play, while Franklin Pierce finished at 16-13-3 overall and 13-8-3 in NEWHA action. 

In last year's NEWHA semifinal, it was a defensive battle between the two squads, which combined for only 48 shots in the game. Geno Hendrickson had the second-period game-winner for FPU in a 2-0 victory. The teams also met in the 2019 NEWHA semifinals with Franklin Pierce downing Sacred Heart, 3-2, in neutral-site play at Saint Anselm. Victoria Grimmer opened the scoring for the Pios, but the Ravens scored the next three, and a third-period tally from Jayne Lewis was not enough to kick start a SHU comeback.

Before the formation of the NEWHA, the squads met in an NEHC consolation match in 2017, at Sports Center of Connecticut in Shelton. Sacred Heart earned the third-place finish via a 2-1 shootout win, following a 4-4 (OT) tie. Katie Stueve had a goal and two assists in the contest, while Sarah Erban made 37 saves. Tegan Ketchum finished things off in the sixth round of the shootout.

Over the last four games of the season, the Pioneers finished 2-1-1 with a 2-1 win over NEWHA top seed LIU on the road, and a 4-3 (OT) win at Martire Family Arena against Saint Michael's. Delani MacKay had both goals in the victory at LIU, and followed up with an assist in the overtime win against Saint Michael's. Sydney Antonakis scored twice in the win over the Purple Knights, including her team-high fifth game-winning goal.