FAIRFIELD, Conn. - The No. 5 seed Saint Anselm College women's ice hockey team is set to travel to No. 2 seed Sacred Heart for the New England Women's Hockey Alliance (NEWHA) Semifinals on Wednesday night. The Hawks have reached the NEWHA Semifinals in every year that the full tournament has been held. This will be their first postseason meeting with the Pioneers since the two teams met in the Championship of the inaugural NEWHA tournament in 2018, a game the Pioneers won, 3-1.
GAME INFO:
Date: Wednesday, March 5th, 2025
Time: 7:00 p.m. (ET)
Location: Matire Family Arena (Sacred Heart University - Fairfield, Conn.)
Live Stream:
https://www.espn.com/espnplus/player/_/id/1e727d46-49dc-4010-80db-61f6b20c1731#bucketId=1
Live Stats powered by Sidearm Sports:
https://sacredheartpioneers.com/sidearmstats/whockey/summary
HOW THEY GOT HERE:
No. 5 seed Saint Anselm and No. 2 seed Sacred Heart both won their best-of-three series in last weekend's NEWHA Quarterfinals to secure their spots in the Semifinals.
The Hawks finished the regular season with a record of 10-18-7, but had a solid 10-11-7 record in NEWHA play. They got off to a strong start in league play with a 3-1 record through the first four games, but struggled to finish, recording three ties and a loss in their last four games against Stonehill and Long Island (LIU). Saint Anselm was able to stay ahead of Post for the No. 5 seed, in part because of their four shootout wins on the season.
This set the Hawks up for a best-of-three opening round series against No. 4 seed Stonehill, a team they had beaten once and tied the other three times they played this season. Sure enough, the opening game of the series in Bridgewater went the distance, with the game tied at 1-1 after 60 minutes. Following a scoreless first overtime, the Skyhawks scored just 27 seconds into the second overtime to grab the 1-0 edge in the series.
Saint Anselm responded in Game Two, taking a 4-1 lead off a goal by senior
Audrey Jackson (Shoreview, Minn.) in the third period. Stonehill got two goals back, but Saint Anselm ultimately prevailed, 4-3, to force a deciding game in the series. Game Three remained close and was tied at 2-2 after the first two periods of play, but the Hawks found the go-ahead goal from senior
Gracee Donovan (Orchard Park, N.Y.) in the third to pull away, winning the game by a final score of 4-2 and the series, two games to one.
No. 2 Sacred Heart finished their season with a 19-14-3 record, including a strong 16-9-3 record in NEWHA play. For much of the season, they competed for the top seed, but four losses in their last six games locked them into the second seed. This set up their Quarterfinal matchup against No. 7 seed Assumption, a team the Pioneers defeated all four times they played this year.
The first game of the series was a low-scoring affair, with a power-play goal by Brianna Morden just a minute into the game being the only score. Carly Greene was huge for Sacred Heart, making 37 saves in the shutout win. The Pioneers completed the clean sweep in Game Two with a 6-2 win. It was a well-rounded effort that featured six different goal scorers.
SEMIFINAL PREVIEW:
Saint Anselm has made a Semifinal appearance in all seven full NEWHA tournaments including this year. The Hawks currently have a 5-1 record in such games, with the lone loss coming against Stonehill last season.
This will be Sacred Heart's fifth Semifinal appearance. They have a record of 1-3 in such games, and this marks their first appearance since the 2022 tournament.
This will be the first playoff meeting between the two programs since the 2018 NEWHA Championship, where Sacred Heart took home the inaugural NEWHA tournament title, 3-1.
With a win, Saint Anselm would make their sixth appearance in the NEWHA Championship game. The Hawks are looking for their first title since 2019 and second overall. For Sacred Heart, this would be their second Championship appearance, with their aforementioned win in 2018.
This season, Sacred Heart holds a slight edge over Saint Anselm with a 2-1-1 record in the four matchups between the teams. Saint Anselm won the opening game at Sacred Heart, 4-3, before Sacred Heart responded with a 4-0 win a day later. Back in Manchester, the Pioneers picked up a 3-2 win over the Hawks before the last meeting resulted in a 2-2 tie with the Hawks going on to win the shootout.
Saint Anselm currently ranks second in the NEWHA with 2.3 goals per game. Sacred Heart is not far behind in fourth with 2.14 goals per contest. The Pioneers rank second in goals against average, holding opponents to just 1.76 goals per game. The Hawks rank seventh with 3.09 goals allowed per game.
KEY PLAYERS:
Senior
Tyra Turner (Andover, Mass.) was recently named to the All-NEWHA Second Team. This marks her third appearance on the team, having also earned spots in her sophomore and freshman seasons. Her 113 career points rank sixth in program history, while her 51 career goals rank seventh. She also ranks fifth in career assists with 62. One assist on Wednesday would move her into a tie for third, and two assists would place her in a tie for second.
Turner is currently tied for second in the NEWHA with 26 points on the season, and her 14 assists are tied for third. She is joined in the top 10 in the league by two teammates: junior
Brooklyn Schneiderhan (Helena, Mont.) with 23 points and Donovan with 20 points.
The Hawks have four players in the top 10 in the NEWHA in goals this season as well. Donovan currently sits second in the league with 16 goals, while Jackson is tied for fifth with 13 goals. Schneiderhan and Turner each have 12 goals on the season, tying them for seventh in the league.
Junior
Ava Hills (Pembroke, N.H.) has been outstanding in goal this season, ranking second in the NEWHA in total saves with 837. Her save percentage of .937 ranks fifth in the league. She made 40 or more saves in all three Quarterfinal games, which included a career-high and new single game program record of 67 saves in Game One.
Sacred Heart was represented on the NEWHA All-League teams by Isabella Chaput, who was selected to the All-NEWHA Second Team. She was named to the NEWHA All-Rookie Team last season and earned the "Top Newcomer" award. She has already matched her points total of 19 from a season ago and is currently tied for fifth in the league with 13 goals this year.
Ella Holm, a member of the NEWHA All-Rookie Team, has been crucial to the team's success with eight goals on the season, including three game-winners. Sami Bowlby also has three game-winners for the Pioneers, while Olivia LaRoche has been Sacred Heart's best passer with 10 assists on the year.
Carly Greene has been stellar since taking over in goal for Sacred Heart. In 16 games played, she has posted a league-best 1.31 goals against average. Her .956 save percentage also ranks first in the NEWHA.
HEAD COACHES:
Sam Ftorek '98 is at the helm for Saint Anselm in his first season as head coach. The fourth coach in program history, Ftorek looks to continue his strong first season in charge with a Semifinal win on Wednesday. He brings a wealth of coaching experience, coming off a Founder's League Championship with Kent School last season. He also played 18 professional seasons in the U.S. and Europe.
Thomas O'Malley leads Sacred Heart. O'Malley has been the head coach for the Pioneers since the program's inception in 2002. He has led the team to Championships in both the ECAC and the NEWHA. He spent time previously with Boston College and Wayne State, bringing his head coaching experience to over 30 years.
STAY CONNECTED:
- For the latest on Saint Anselm College Athletics, follow the Hawks via social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
