WATERVILLE, Maine – The Saint Anselm women's hockey team jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, but couldn't quite hang on as host Colby secured a comeback 4-3 non-conference comeback victory at Harold Alfond Ice Rink Friday night.

The loss drops the Hawks to 6-2-1 overall while Colby improves to 3-4 on the season.

Saint Anselm started off the game to near perfection, as senior forward Tiffany Herron (Clinton Township, Mich.) and freshman forward Kaitlin Spillane (Franklin, Mass.) scored just 24 seconds apart to surge the Hawks to a 2-0 lead just 3:24 into the game. Herron's tally came off an assist from junior forward Sarah Geisinger (Willoughby, Ohio), her third of the season.

Colby would respond with a pair of its own goals to close out the period, including a power play goal given up just a minute and a half remaining in the opening session.

The Hawks would take control to open the second period and retake the lead on a sophomore forward Alison Quinn (Canton, Mass.) tiebreaker midway through the stanza—her seventh goal of the season. Classmate Alex Starzyk (Enfield, Conn.) recorded her fifth season assist on Quinn's goal as the Hawks looked poised to ride it out.

Yet the Mules would again answer with a goal five minutes later to lock the game at 3-3 entering the second intermission. Finally, Colby's Kat Mackey picked the most opportune time to tally her first goal of the year, putting away a game-winning wrist shot with just under five minutes remaining to secure the win.

Sophomore Hannah Synnott (Montclair, N.J.) tallied 22 saves on the evening between the pipes, falling to 2-2-1 overall. Colby goaltender Jessica Thulin recorded a career-high 38 saves Friday night.

Penalties continued to plague the Hawks in defeat as Saint Anselm compiled nearly an entire period's worth—16 minutes to be precise—of skating undermanned.

The Hawks also outshot the Mules 41-26 on the night, including a 17-shot barrage in the third period.

Saint Anselm will head down the Maine coastline to battle Bowdoin Saturday afternoon in a 1 p.m. matchup at the Polar Bears' state-of-the-art Sidney J. Watson Arena.

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