Cornele scores Raven goal

Box Score

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. (December 12, 2009) – Junior forward Nick Sheehan and junior defenseman Matt Rigtrup tallied four points apiece on Saturday afternoon as Saint Michael’s defeated the Franklin Pierce University ice hockey team, 8-1, in Northeast-10 conference play at Cairns Arena. Freshman defenseman Tyler Cornele (Cape Coral, Fla.) scored the lone goal of the game in defeat for Franklin Pierce.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 3-7-2 (1-2-1 Northeast-10), while Saint Michael’s improves to 2-5-0 (1-1-0 Northeast-10) with the victory.

Saint Michael’s opened the game with three goals in the first period and never looked back. Freshman forward Josh Geary struck first with a shorthanded tally, when he scored his second goal of the season, unassisted at the 3:31 mark. Sheehan would then score twice in a span of 3:53 in the second half of the opening frame to give the Purple Knights a 3-0 lead heading into the first intermission. Senior defenseman Dave Vorozilchak assisted on both of Sheehan’s goals, while Rigtrup added his first of three helpers on Sheehan’s second goal, which came on the power play.

The Purple Knights extended the lead to 6-0 with three goals in the final five minutes of the second period. Sophomore forward Reave MacKinnon started things with his third of the season at the 15:17 mark, while senior defenseman Tim Geverd and sophomore forward Brady Earle followed with power-play goals at the 16:48 and 19:46 marks, respectively. Rigtrup chipped in assists on the first two goals of the period, while Sheehan added a helper on the final tally of the frame as both players finished the second period with three points to their credit.

Saint Michael’s pushed the lead all the way to 8-0 with two more goals in the first 5:09 of the third period. First, 61 seconds into the frame, Earle scored yet again on the power play, while MacKinnon and Sheehan both picked up their second assists of the night to give them three and four points apiece, respectively. Later, Rigtrup netted a goal, his third of the season, to go with his three assists from earlier in the game.

Franklin Pierce would pick up its only goal of the contest on the power play at the 9:04 mark of the final stanza. Cornele scored his second goal of the season, while assists were credited to sophomore forward Anthony Chighisola (Whitman, Mass.) and freshman defenseman Wesley Russell (Marlboro, Mass.).

Sophomore goaltender Ben Siok (Holden, Mass.) started in goal, made 28 saves over 38:22 and took the loss (1-5-2) between the pipes for Franklin Pierce. In relief, senior Jon Tuttle (Concord, N.H.) made two saves over 6:47 and junior Matt McCarthy (Natick, Mass.) stopped nine shots over 14:51. Freshman goaltender Matt Dizgun made 25 saves to earn the win (2-2-0) in net for Saint Michael’s.

Saint Michael’s posted a 47-26 advantage in shots on goal in the game and went 4-for-9 on the power play. Franklin Pierce finished 1-for-10 with the man-advantage.

The Ravens return to the ice on Tuesday, Jan. 5, when they return home to host Saint Anselm in a Northeast-10 Conference contest. Faceoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at The Winchendon School Ice Arena in Winchendon, Mass.