MANCHESTER, N.H. – Rosemarie Giarrusso (Royal Palm Beach, Fla.) scored a pair of goals, but Manhattanville College snapped a 2-2 draw in the third period to defeat the Saint Anselm College women's ice hockey team, 3-2, on Friday night at Thomas F. Sullivan Arena in the opening game of the Hawks' Pink in the Rink initiative.
The Hawks dip to 11-4-3 on the season, including 7-2-3 in ECAC East play, while the Valiants improve to 11-6-1, 9-1-1 ECAC East.
Saint Anselm jumped on the board first midway through the opening period when Giarrusso stuffed home a rebound chance on the power play. Courtney Winters (Swampscott, Mass.) wristed a shot from the right circle that was stopped by Manhattanville goaltender Mary Evans, but the puck bounced out to the near post where Giarrusso swept it into the back of the net to make it 1-0 at the 9:37 mark. Franny Nicholson (Saint Paul, Minn.) also earned an assist on the play.
Manhattanville looked as if it was going to net the equalizer with just over two minutes to play in the period before Saint Anselm goaltender Janice Michaud (Westwood, Mass.) denied the breakaway chance. As the Hawks were cycling the puck in their offensive zone, it slipped past a defender at the blue line and into the neutral zone where Nicholson skated to track it down. Katie Little sprinted to catch up, skated around Nicholson and collected the puck just over the blue line and skated in alone, but Michaud stacked her pads to her left to thwart the opportunity.
The Valiants would eventually tie the game just 1:04 into the second period when Little sent a feed from behind the net into the slot for Alyssa Taylor, who one-timed the puck over the right shoulder of Michaud.
Giarrusso again put the Hawks back up by a goal at the 17:00 mark with an excellent individual effort. Deep in her own zone, Kathryn Picarello (West Roxbury, Mass.) sent an outlet pass to Giarrusso, who skated from right to left across the neutral zone and across the blue line. A Manhattanville defender stepped up to stop the rush at the top of the right circle, but Giarrusso cut hard to the left, skated around the defender and, as she fell, slid the puck into the open left side of the net after Evans found herself out of position.
Manhattanville earned the equalizer just 10 seconds later, however, as Aubrey Bachand skated across the right circle toward the net and threw the puck on net. The puck hit Michaud but trickled through her to knot the game at two.
The visitors grabbed the lead on the power play for the first and final time just 2:24 into the final stanza when Mary Rose Morrison's shot from the top of the slot was blocked by a Saint Anselm defender. The puck deflected to the right circle for Sonia Occhionero, who wristed a shot into the right side of the net to make it 3-2.
The Hawks would pull Michaud for the extra skater with 48 seconds left and generated a couple of chances, but did not convert.
Michaud stopped 16 shots, including seven in the middle period, while Evans made 20 saves, including 10 in the second.
Saint Anselm narrowly outshot Manhattanville, 22-19.
The Hawks return to action Saturday, Jan. 26 at 1 p.m. when they continue their Pink in the Rink weekend by playing host to Nichols College at Sullivan. Stay up-to-date with the latest news, including game previews and recaps, directly from the Saint Anselm College athletic department by liking us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/STAHawks) and following us on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/STAHawks).