FAIRFIELD, Conn. — Having secured the No. 4 seed in the New England Women's Hockey Alliance (NEWHA) postseason tournament, the Sacred Heart University women's ice hockey team is set to host a best-of-three series against the Franklin Pierce Ravens this weekend, February 23-25. Puck drop on Friday, February 23 and Saturday, February 24 is scheduled for 7 p.m. both nights while Sunday's possible game three is slated for 3 p.m.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Pioneers secured themselves the No. 4 seed – and with it, home-ice advantage in the first round – after securing their fourth sweep of the season over the Post Eagles last weekend. In game one, the Pios dispatched their in-state rivals with a crucial 2-0 win at the Sports Center of Connecticut in Shelton, Conn. Following a scoreless first period, Cassie Nevers lit the lamp in the second period while Sophie Lupone added the insurance goal five minutes into the third period for a 2-0 lead. Jillian Petruno earned her fifth shutout of the season, stopping 18 shots as the Pios moved to within one point of clinching the No. 4 seed following Friday's victory.   
 
The Red & White had a lot to celebrate in the regular-season finale, earning a 4-3 win in dramatic fashion on Senior Day to clinch home-ice in the first round. The trio of Isabella Chaput, Kate Helgeson and Sydney Antonakis had a hand in three of SHU's four goals, with Chaput's third multi-goal performance of the season propelling the Pios to victory after grabbing her 12^th tally of the season halfway through the third period. In goal, senior Molly Elmore earned her first start of the season earning an 18-save win including stoning Post's Tristan Currie with one second left in regulation to preserve the 4-3 win. 
 
ON FRANKLIN PIERCE
Franklin Pierce enters the weekend having taken three of a possible four points last week against Assumption to lock up the No. 5 seed. In game one, the Ravens climbed out of a two-goal hole to send the game into overtime, eventually earning a point en route to a 2-2 tie while a first period goal from Emilie Prive was enough to secure a 1-0 victory in the weekend finale. 
 
Junior Mikayla Kelley leads the Ravens with 23 points on the campaign, leading FPU with 12 goals this season. The aforementioned Prive leads FPU in assists, earning her 14^th of the season in the 2-2 tie against Assumption on Friday before providing the game-winner in Saturday's tilt. The Ravens currently have eight double-digit scorers this season with Jenna Ruiz rounding out the top-three scorers this season for FPU, accumulating an 8-11-19 line in 30 games this season. 
 
In goal, sophomore Jill Hertl has earned the majority of the starts for FPU amassing a 2.02 goals against average coupled with a T-1^st  .942 save percentage in the NEWHA en route to an 11-9-1 record. Hertl earned both starts in the series against Assumption, stopping 76 shots through the weekend and earning her fifth shutout of the season on Saturday. Elsewhere in goal, Gwen Bowler and Olivia Klunowski have appeared in 14 games this season for a combined 4-6-0 record. 
 
David Stockdale is in his 12^th season as the bench boss for the Ravens, ushering them to a 194-111-14 record and a NEWHA Championship in 2022. The Pios took three of the four meetings this season, earning a sweep over the Ravens at Martire Family Arena in November before falling to FPU during the Thanksgiving break. SHU took the all-important fourth game of the regular-season series on January 18 as Isabella Chaput's game-winning goal with 23 seconds left in overtime earned the series win. 
 
IT'S PERSONAL
This weekend's matchup marks the third-consecutive meeting, and fourth all-time, between the two squads in the NEWHA playoffs as the Pios look to earn their first series win over the Ravens since joining the conference in 2018. 
 
The Ravens and Pioneers have met twice in the NEW Semifinals back in 2019 and 2022. In 2019, No. 3 FPU defeated SHU, 3-2 before falling in the NEWHA Championship game to Saint Anselm while in 2022, the No. 1 seeded Ravens took down No. 4 SHU, 2-0 en route to their first-ever NEWHA title. 
 
Under the new playoff format last season, the No. 5 seed Pioneers stunned No. 4 FPU on the road in game one as Anastasia Sloan potted her first career goal with just over two minutes left in regulation to earn the first win of the series, 2-1. However, FPU had its own heroics in game two, scoring with 1.6 seconds left in regulation before tallying the game-winner in overtime to level the series, 1-1. FPU took the winner-take-all game three matchup 4-0 before falling to No. 1 LIU in the semifinals.