Five Ravens notch two points each

FOXBORO, Mass. (February 2, 2013) – Senior defenseman Brendan McCarron (Andover, Mass.) fired home a slapshot from the point with just 54 seconds to play in regulation on Saturday afternoon to break a 4-4 tie and lift the Franklin Pierce University men's ice hockey team to a 5-4 victory over Stonehill in Northeast-10 Conference play at Foxboro Sports Center. Combined, the two teams had nine players with two points each, but no multiple-goal scorers, on the afternoon.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 5-10-3 (3-4-1 Northeast-10), while Stonehill falls to 10-12-0 (5-3-0 Northeast-10). The teams had split their two previous meetings, so the victory secured two points for Franklin Pierce in the Northeast-10 standings for winning the three-game season series.

The Ravens held a 3-1 lead through two periods and attempted to slam the door shut coming out of the second intermission, but Stonehill had other ideas. The Skyhawks needed less than five minutes to close the gap to 3-2, as freshman forward Dan Graham scored his seventh of the season off a feed from freshman forward Nate Soter at the 4:37 mark.

Franklin Pierce reclaimed the two-goal lead just 56 seconds later, at 5:33, as graduate student forward Anthony Chighisola (Whitman, Mass.) scored his sixth of the campaign, while sophomore forward Tim Sullivan (Rye, N.H.) and freshman forward Doug Usseglio (Waltham, Mass.) added the assists.

However, less than three minutes after the Chighisola goal, the game would be tied at 4-4 after a pair of quick Stonehill goals. At 6:46, Soter added his second goal of the season to go with his assist, as he finished off a setup by freshman forward Thomas DePoalo and freshman defenseman Travis Army. On the power play at 8:26, DePoalo would add another assist, along with junior forward Bill Carey, as sophomore defenseman Brendan Greene notched his third of the year to tie the game.

Franklin Pierce put a stop to the rally from there, and the game went without further scoring until McCarron's game-winner with under a minute to play. Senior forwards Michael Carr (South Boston, Mass.) and Roscoe Sweeney (Falmouth, Mass.) provided the helpers on McCarron's team-leading seventh of the season. Sweeney's assist was the 49th of his career, matching the program record set by Joe Fields from 2004-08. After each had a two-point night, both Sweeney (84 points) and Chighisola (82) are within five points of Fields' program record (86).

Earlier in the game, Franklin Pierce built a 2-1 lead in the latter stages of the first period after a defensive-end turnover allowed Carey and Graham to set up junior defenseman Andrew Miller's second goal of the season, which opened the scoring for Stonehill at 12:44. Sweeney had the answer with his sixth of the year, on the power play, at 14:10, off assists from Chighisola and Carr. Later, at 18:00, Usseglio jammed home a rebound for his first career goal, with assists credited to senior forward Dino Federico (Canton, Mass.) and junior defenseman Kyle Craig (Quincy, Mass.).

The Ravens stretched the lead to 3-1 with the only goal of the second period, at 2:58. Sullivan tallied his first goal of the campaign, off assists from senior forward Sean Dunn (Quincy, Mass.) and freshman forward Michael Tallo (McKinney, Texas). From there, the middle stanza turned into a penalty-fest. Stonehill successfully killed off three penalties and Franklin Pierce escaped harm on one, while a quartet of penalties for hitting after the whistle canceled each other out along the way.

The Ravens return to the ice on Tuesday, Feb. 5, when they return home to host Saint Michael's in a Northeast-10 Conference contest. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Jason Ritchie Ice Arena.

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).