WINCHENDON, Mass. – No. 3-seeded Saint Anselm College women's ice hockey is in pursuit of its first New England Women's Hockey Alliance Championship since the 2018-19 season, traveling to face top-seeded Franklin Pierce University at the Jason Richie Ice Arena at 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 7, with the winner earning an automatic berth in the 2026 NCAA National Collegiate Women's Ice Hockey Championship.

The game will be broadcast live on FloCollege, and ticket prices are set at $10 for adults and $5 for seniors, students (with a valid school ID), and children.

Saint Anselm (19-17-1) extends its own league record for NEWHA Championship game appearances, advancing to the title contest for the sixth time in conference history. The Hawks have now reached the championship game in 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2025-26, highlighted by the program's tournament victory over Franklin Pierce in 2018-19. Saint Anselm most recently reached the NEWHA Championship game in 2022-23, when the Hawks dropped a 2-0 decision at LIU. Franklin Pierce also edged Saint Anselm by a 1-0 score in the 2021-22 championship game, avenging its loss to the Hawks in the 2019 title contest.

The Hawks enter Saturday with a 17-9-0 (.654) all-time record in NEWHA postseason play and a 37-14-1 (.721) mark overall in playoff competition.

This is the first appearance in the league title game under the direction of second-year head coach Sam Ftorek '98, who led the Hawks to a 16-11-1 finish in NEWHA play. Over the past two seasons, the Hawks are 5-1-1 in postseason games.

Saint Anselm holds a 30-14-4 advantage in the all-time series against Franklin Pierce, which dates back to the 2012-13 season. The Hawks went unbeaten in the first 23 meetings between the programs at 22-0-1, but Saint Anselm has recorded just two regulation wins over the Ravens since Feb. 3, 2024. In four meetings this season, the Hawks are 1-2-1 against Franklin Pierce, though Saint Anselm claimed the most recent matchup with a 6-2 victory to close the regular season on Feb. 21.

Senior captain Brooklyn Schneiderhan leads the Hawks with five points against the Ravens this season on one goal and four assists, while sophomore forward Nicola Forth has added four points on one goal and three assists. Sophomore forward Kismet Dogan posted a hat trick, the first of her career, against Franklin Pierce, with all three goals coming on the power play in the regular-season finale. Sophomore forward Lucy DeCoteau has also made an impact in the faceoff circle, winning 59 of 102 draws for a 57.8% success rate, while also posting a team-high seven blocked shots in the season series.

In net, freshman Kayla Czukoski owns a 1-2-0 record against Franklin Pierce this season, making 51 saves on 59 shots for an .864 save percentage. Sophomore netminder Julia Matyas appeared in two games against the Ravens and stopped 62 of 65 shots faced, good for a .954 save percentage.

In the NEWHA Semifinals on Wednesday, Schneiderhan, the NEWHA Player of the Year, scored twice while Czukoski turned aside 44 shots as the Hawks took down second-seeded Assumption University, 2-1. Schneiderhan opened the scoring 9:10 into the first period, converting on a breakaway chance to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead. Assumption answered 6:34 into the second period when Ava McGaffigan scored to even the game at 1-1. Saint Anselm wasted little time reclaiming the advantage in the third, as Schneiderhan struck again just 27 seconds into the period. From there, Czukoski delivered a standout finish in net, making 18 saves over the final 19:33, including 11 in the last six minutes, to preserve the one-goal victory and earn her third straight postseason win. Schneiderhan's two-goal effort pushed her season total to 25, leaving her one shy of the program's single-season record.

Schneiderhan leads the NEWHA in goals (25), goals per game (0.68), shots (223), shots per game (6.03), points (48), points per game (1.3), shorthanded goals (five) and multi-point games (13). Her nine career shorthanded goals are the most among active skaters at any level of NCAA play and she is the lone student-athlete for Saint Anselm to have two separate six-game point streaks this season.

Schneiderhan became the fourth student-athlete in program history to earn NEWHA Player of the Year honors and the third Hawks player to receive the award in the past four seasons. Schneiderhan's 25 goals and 48 points rank as the second- highest single-season totals by a NEWHA student-athlete, trailing only Sacred Heart's Taylor Moreland, who recorded 30 goals and 66 points during the league's inaugural season in 2017-18.

Schneiderhan reached the 100-point milestone in early December against Franklin Pierce and has since totaled 124 points (68 goals, 56 assists) in 134 career games. She ranks third all-time in program history in both goals and points, and her plus-44 on-ice rating is second among active NEWHA skaters, trailing only Franklin Pierce's Maggie Korneta (+45). Schneiderhan is also the only active NEWHA skater with multiple career hat tricks.

In the National Collegiate era of Saint Anselm women's ice hockey, beginning in 2017-18, Schneiderhan leads all Hawks skaters with 124 career points and owns the era record in both points and goals, having recently passed Kelly Golini '22 M'23 for the National Collegiate-era career points mark.

In her first 33 games at Saint Anselm, Czukoski leads the NEWHA with 1,229 saves (single-season program record) and ranks 11th nationally with a .936 save percentage. If she starts Saturday, the All-Rookie Team selection would make her season-high 13th straight start and 15th consecutive appearance. Czukoski's 66-save performance against Boston College on Oct. 4 is tied for the second-highest single-game total by a NEWHA goaltender over the last three seasons.

In the NEWHA postseason, Czukoski has provided a 1.33 goals-against average alongside a .967 save percentage in four games, trailing only Franklin Pierce's Jill Hertl in both categories. Hertl has delivered an 0.58 GAA with a .976 save percentage in three games.

DeCoteau ranks third nationally with 518 faceoff victories, second in the NEWHA, and fifth nationally with seven power-play goals. She also ranks fourth in the league in shot percentage (13.4%) and ninth in goals (13), producing six multiple-point games this season.

Under head coach David Stockdale, Franklin Pierce posted a 19-11-2 overall record and an 18-8-2 mark in conference play during the regular season. That performance earned the Ravens the NEWHA regular-season title and the top seed in the conference tournament. Stockdale was also recognized as the NEWHA Coach of the Year, marking the second time in his career that he has received the league's top coaching honor.

Franklin Pierce advanced to the championship game after surviving a lengthy semifinal battle with Stonehill College. The Ravens forced overtime when sophomore forward Hailey Anderson scored in the closing minutes of regulation, then secured the win early in the second overtime period as first year forward Abigail Broz converted on the power play to punch Franklin Pierce's ticket back to the NEWHA title game. Offensively, sophomore forward Caleigh Murphy has helped pace the Ravens throughout the 2025-26 season with 17 goals and 16 assists, ranking among the conference's top performers in several scoring categories. NEWHA Rookie of the Year Addison Andre has also played a major role in Franklin Pierce's attack, giving the Ravens another consistent offensive threat.

In net, Hertl has been the foundation of Franklin Pierce's success. Hertl leads the conference in save percentage (.953) and goals-against average (1.69), and her standout season was recognized with NEWHA Goaltender of the Year honors.

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