MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College women's ice hockey team opened Pink in the Rink weekend with a 3-0 win over Sacred Heart University on Friday.
 
With the win, the Hawks improve to 11-12-3 on the season with a 8-6-3 record against the New England Women's Hockey Alliance. The Pioneers fall to 14-12-2 overall with a 9-6-2 mark in league contests. The teams will face off again tomorrow with the opening puck drop from Sullivan Arena slated for 1 p.m.
 
Prior to the start of the contest on Saturday, Feb. 19, Saint Anselm will celebrate the 2020 Hockey Humanitarian Award winner, Amanda Conger '20 with a pregame ceremony and ceremonial puck drop.
 
Sacred Heart nearly got on the board first as Paige McNeil fired a wrist shot that beat junior goaltender Allie Kelley (East Berne, N.Y.). However, the shot rang off the left post and stayed out of the goal at 8:40 of the opening period.
 
Freshman Tyra Turner (Andover, Minn.) opened the scoring at 17:14 of the period. She collected a pass from senior captain Erin Meyers (St. Paul, Minn.) in the left corner. She started toward behind the goal but fired a shot from below the goal line that bounced off Pioneers net minder Frankie Sanchez and into the back of the net.
 
Senior alternate captain Kelly Golini (Tewksbury, Mass.) doubled the Saint Anselm lead at 2:35 of the second stanza when she redirected a loose puck on the doorstep, giving the Hawks a two-goal advantage. 
 
Later in the period with the Pioneers on a five-on-three power play, Turner forced a turnover at the attacking blue line. She drove in toward goal, making a move around a defender and firing a shot on Sanchez. Sanchez made the initial save but Turner crashed the net for her rebound, netting her second goal of the game and second shorthanded goal of the season.
 
The Pioneers fired 16 shots on goal compared to five for the Hawks in the third period in an attempt to crack the scoreboard but Kelley stopped all 16 shot attempts.
 
Neither team converted on the power play as Sacred Heart was scoreless on three chances while Saint Anselm could not net a goal on four power play chances.
 
Kelley posted a 44-save shutout in the win, including double-digit saves in all three periods. The junior net minder has four shutouts on the season. Sanchez stopped 26 of 29 shots on goal for the Pioneers.