Murphy, Walsh pick up two points each

WINCHENDON, Mass. (November 29, 2012) – Senior forward Joseph Caveney scored three times on Thursday night to lead Fitchburg State to a 7-2 win over the Franklin Pierce University men's ice hockey team in non-conference play at Jason Ritchie Ice Arena. Freshman forward Paddy Murphy (York, Maine) and junior forward Ted Walsh (Quincy, Mass.) registered a goal and an assist each in the loss for Franklin Pierce.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce improves to 3-3-0 (1-0-0 Northeast-10), while Fitchburg State improves to 3-3-1 (2-1-0 Massachusetts State). Fitchburg State controlled the tempo for much of the evening and finished with a 40-26 advantage in shots on goal.

Fitchburg State opened the scoring 2:25 into the contest. Franklin Pierce senior defenseman Matt Lopes (Auburn, N.H.) was struggling to get off the ice after getting hit hard in the neutral zone, which opened a seam for freshman forward John Celli to spring fellow freshman forward Nat Rojas on a partial breakaway into the offensive end. The latter would put away his second goal of the season on the play.

The Ravens answered just 48 seconds later to tie the game at 1-1. Taking a faceoff in the right-wing circle, Walsh won the draw back to Murphy, who snapped his first career goal to the back of the net.

Fitchburg State struck twice in the second half of the opening stanza to take a 3-1 lead into the locker room. At the 12:21 mark, freshman forward Ryan Connolly sent the puck into the slot where Caveney one-timed home his fourth goal of the campaign. Later, on the power play at the 17:54 mark, Celli jammed home a rebound for his third goal of the year, while Rojas and sophomore forward Sean Loebs tacked on the assists.

The Falcons would score the only two goals of the middle frame to jump to a 5-1 lead. At 7:51, freshman forward Nick Indelicato put home a rebound for his second goal of the season, as freshman forward Ryan Bedard and sophomore defenseman Craig Halpin picked up the helpers. At 16:23, feeds from senior forward Trevor Lawler and senior defenseman Brett Provost sprung Caveney on a shorthanded breakaway down the right side. Caveney beat Franklin Pierce senior goaltender Pat Dunn (Quincy, Mass.) inside the right post for his second goal of the night.

Fitchburg State pushed the lead as high as 6-1 at 5:45 of the third period when senior forward Justin Quinn roofed his third goal of the season from the right circle off assists from Loebs and sophomore defenseman Derek Giansanti.

Franklin Pierce got on the board again at 12:49, as Walsh won a faceoff to senior forward Tom Mills (Oxford, England), who sent the puck to Murphy. Murphy's shot was saved, but Walsh jumped on the rebound to score his second goal of the year. Caveney put home a rebound at 19:38 to complete his hat trick on the power play and cap the scoring for Fitchburg State, while freshman forward Max Lorenzen and Quinn contributed assists.

Dunn started, played the first two periods in net for Franklin Pierce and made 23 saves while taking the loss (2-3-0). Freshman Kyle Moran (Marshfield, Mass.) made his collegiate debut in the third period and made 10 saves.

Junior Randy Wolcott picked up the win (3-3-1) for Fitchburg State after making 14 saves over the first two periods. Sophomore Ryan Wysocki made 10 saves in the third to finish out the game.

The Ravens return to the ice on Saturday, Dec. 1, when they travel to Stonehill for a Northeast-10 Conference contest. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 4:10 p.m. at Foxboro Sports Center in Foxboro, Mass.

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).