Ravens cash pair of power-play goals

WINCHENDON, Mass. (January 5, 2013) – Senior forward Roscoe Sweeney (Falmouth, Mass.) notched a goal and an assist on Saturday night, but the Franklin Pierce University men's ice hockey team was defeated, 5-4, by Framingham State in non-conference play at Jason Ritchie Ice Arena. Junior forward Daniel Miressi had a goal and an assist in the victory for Framingham State. Over the course of the evening, the two teams combined for 43 penalty minutes on 16 infractions.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 4-5-1 (2-1-0 Northeast-10), while Framingham State improves to 2-9-0 (0-6-0 Mass. State). Franklin Pierce held a 34-27 advantage in shots on goal in the game and went 2-for-5 on the power play, while Framingham State went 2-for-7 with the man advantage.

Trailing 4-3 heading into the third period, Franklin Pierce saw an early power-play opportunity nullified by a bench minor for unsportsmanlike conduct before the man advantage could commence. The Ravens would eventually tie the game at 4-4 on a later power-play chance, as graduate student forward Anthony Chighisola (Whitman, Mass.) jammed home his second goal of the season off the rebound of a shot by senior defenseman Brendan McCarron (Andover, Mass.).

The game would stay tied at 4-4 until there was just 3:02 remaining in regulation. After Framingham State cleared the puck from its own end, one of the Rams' forwards had the angle and speed to beat out an icing call. Senior goaltender Pat Dunn (Quincy, Mass.) ventured out of his crease to corral the puck behind the net and attempted to wrap it around the boards and out of the zone. However, FSU junior forward Jay Nicholls and sophomore forward Dean Cavicchi worked together to intercept the clearance in the right-wing corner and center the puck to senior forward Ben Pacific, who snapped the puck into the empty net for his second goal of the year before Dunn could return to the goalmouth. The goal would stand as the game-winner after Franklin Pierce could not find the equalizer while on the power play with the goaltender pulled for the extra attacker over the final 47 seconds.

Earlier in the night, the parade to the penalty box started just 37 seconds into the first period, as freshman forward Paddy Murphy (York, Maine) was whistled for interference. Shortly after killing the penalty, the Ravens opened the scoring at the 2:48 mark as a Framingham State turnover led to a 2-on-0 in the attacking end for Franklin Pierce. Sweeney held the puck until the goaltender was overcommitted, then slipped a pass to freshman forward Brendan Glynn (Quincy, Mass.), who put away his second goal of the season. Senior defenseman Matt Lopes (Auburn, N.H.) added an assist as well.

Less than five minutes after the goal, junior forward Ted Walsh (Quincy, Mass.) received a five-minute major and a game misconduct for hitting from behind. Franklin Pierce nearly killed off the entire penalty, but the Rams struck at 12:03, with just five seconds remaining in the penalty. Junior forward Eric Ward stuffed home a rebound, while Nicholls picked up an assist. Just 2:35 later, junior forward Daniel Miressi and sophomore forward Brendan McCarron worked together to set up sophomore forward Ryan McDonald with the puck in space traveling across the goalmouth from left to right. Along the way, he snapped a shot past Dunn for his eighth goal of the campaign to send Framingham State into the first intermission with a 2-1 lead.

Franklin Pierce scored the first two goals of the second period to jump to a 3-2 lead. At 6:57, on the power play, Murphy deflected a shot from the point by junior defenseman Kyle Craig (Quincy, Mass.) to score his third of the season, while freshman forward Matt Batis (Lakewood, N.Y.) added the other assist. Just 1:29 later, in a 4-on-4 situation, Sweeney cleaned up a loose puck near the crease for his third of the year.

However, Framingham State would score twice in the final 3:40 to reclaim the lead, at 4-3, and set up the third period back-and-forth. At the 16:20 mark, senior forward Eric Walsh took a shot from the left point that was re-directed by the defense and found the back of the net. Junior forwards Tom Tracy and Peter Baldwin had the helpers on Walsh's second of the season. Later, after Franklin Pierce junior defenseman Andrew Dadds (Mount Ephraim, N.J.) was whistled for tripping at 19:12, Framingham State cashed in off the ensuing faceoff, just six seconds later. McCarron won the faceoff back to Miressi, who ripped home his 11th goal of the season.

Dunn made 22 saves and took the loss (2-4-1) in net for Franklin Pierce. Junior Nick Cafrelli turned aside 30 shots to pick up the win (1-0-0) in his season debut for Framingham State.

The Ravens return to the ice on Wednesday, Jan. 9, when travel to Suffolk for a non-conference contest. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 7:25 p.m. at Steriti Rink in Boston, Mass. Franklin Pierce next plays at home on Saturday, Jan. 19 against Stonehill at 7 p.m.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce men's ice hockey apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' brand new online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).