MANCHESTER, N.H. – A pair of third-period goals off the sticks of senior captain Brooklyn Schneiderhan and junior Brenna Young helped the Saint Anselm College women's ice hockey team to a 3-2 victory over Sacred Heart University in the opening game of a New England Women's Hockey Alliance Quarterfinals series on Friday night at Sullivan Arena.

Highlights

• Junior Brenna Young scored the eventual game-winning goal 8:21 into the third period, marking the first postseason point of her career.
• Sophomores Kismet Dogan (1-1-2) and Lucy DeCoteau (0-2-2) each recorded two points, with Dogan scoring the game's first goal.
• Schneiderhan registered her 23rd goal of the season, marking the 11th postseason goal of her career.
• The freshman trio of Taylor Buckley, Grace Littler, and Grace Stirling each notched one assist.
• Senior captain Cora Webber logged a team-best two blocked shots.
• Freshman goaltender Kayla Czukoski made 25 saves in her first collegiate postseason victory.
• DeCoteau led the efforts at the dot, going 18-for-28 (64.3%) as the Hawks won 43-of-68 (63.2%) of all faceoffs.
• Despite going scoreless on its own power play, Saint Anselm successfully killed off all three of the Pioneers' extra-skater chances, as well as a 2:39 stretch with the goalie pulled to seal the victory.
• The Hawks improved to 33-16-5 all-time against Sacred Heart in a series dating back to the 2004-05 campaign. Saint Anselm now holds a 3-2-0 record over the Pioneers in the 2025-26 season.

How it Happened

Dogan lit the lamp on a centering feed from DeCoteau with two minutes remaining in the opening period to put the Hawks up 1-0 heading into the first intermission.

Sacred Heart got on the board 12:44 into the second period on a breakaway goal scored by Shae Carroll to knot the score at 1-1.

Early in the third, the Pioneers took their first lead of the contest, 2-1, as Grayson Limke tipped in a shot from Peyton Bennetts with 17:39 to play.

The Hawks responded less than two minutes later as Schneiderhan one-timed a cross-crease pass from Dogan to tie the score up at 2-all with 15:59 to play. Just over four minutes later, Young evaded a defender and fired in a shot from the high slot to regain the lead for the Hawks, 3-2.

Saint Anselm fended off multiple Sacred Heart scoring chances over the remaining 11:39 of regulation, including six saves from Czukoski and a pair of blocks by Hawk skaters, to seal the win.

Up Next

The Hawks (17-17-1) and the Pioneers (13-20-2) will face off in game two of their NEWHA Quarterfinals series on Saturday, Feb. 28 at 7:00 p.m. at Sullivan Arena. Saint Anselm is just one win from advancing to its second consecutive NEWHA Semifinals appearance.