Ravens visit Brockport Saturday

WINCHENDON, Mass. (February 3, 2015) – Saint Michael's senior forward AJ Pieprzak scored the first goal of the night and added four assists for a five-point night on Tuesday, as the Franklin Pierce University men's ice hockey team suffered a 9-2 defeat in Northeast-10 Conference play at the Jason Ritchie Ice Arena. Senior forward Tim Sullivan (Rye, N.H.) and freshman forward Blake Manginell (Troy, Mich.) scored in defeat for Franklin Pierce.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 3-16-0 (2-5-0 Northeast-10), while Saint Michael's improves to 7-12-2 (3-0-2 Northeast-10). Franklin Pierce was whistled for 10 penalties totaling 28 minutes on Tuesday night, which Saint Michael's converted into five power-play goals in nine opportunities on the way to the win.

After the game's first seven minutes went scoreless, Saint Michael's struck three times in a span of just 3:49 to jump to a 3-0 lead and never looked back. Pieprzak drew first blood with his 10th goal of the season, a power-play strike at the 7:51 mark of the first period. With the puck at the left point, senior defenseman Mark Higgins sent a pass to Pieprzak at the top of the right circle, and the latter beat Franklin Pierce freshman goaltender Étienne Roy (Saint-Henri, Quebec) cleanly from there to open the scoring. Senior forward Jeremy Wong added an assist as well to start his four-point night (2-2-4).

Wong got on the board himself at the 10:23 mark, with his third goal of the campaign. Pieprzak dished out his first of four helpers on the night with a centering feed from the left-wing corner. The pass found Wong in the slot and he put his shot inside the right post. Junior forward Nick Potter also had an assist on the play.

Just over a minute later, while rushing through the neutral zone, junior forward Brodie McCusker laid the puck off on the left side for freshman forward Eric Salzillo, who led the now 2-on-1 rush across the blue line and into the offensive zone. Salzillo drew the defenseman to him and sent a pass back into the middle for McCusker, who put away his second of the season at 11:40.

Franklin Pierce momentarily stopped the bleeding with a power-play marker at the 16:17 mark. Sullivan salted away his first goal of the season from the slot off a centering feed from junior forward Brendan Glynn (Quincy, Mass.).

Saint Michael's capped a wild first period with a power-play goal at 17:15 to take a 4-1 lead into the first intermission. The original shot from the point by Pieprzak was saved by Roy, but the rebound came out into the slot for junior forward Kevin Altidor, who quickly scored his first of two goals on the night, his seventh of the season. Senior defenseman Eric Robinson had an assist on the play as well.

After killing a penalty just after the midpoint of the second period, Franklin Pierce closed the gap to 4-2 at 13:09 of the middle stanza. With Saint Michael's attempting to clear its own end, the Purple Knights defense made an ill-advised attempt at an outlet pass through the middle of its defensive zone. Freshman forward Anthony Langevin (Albany, N.Y.) was able to force the turnover and intercept the pass, though his momentum was carrying him out of the zone. Before reaching the blue line, he was able to touch a pass behind him, which hit Manginell in stride in the high slot for a quickly-generated breakaway. In all alone, Manginell deked Saint Michael's senior goaltender Dave Donzanti and put home his second goal of the year.

Saint Michael's reclaimed the three-goal lead at 15:38, on Altidor's second score of the game. From the top of the right-wing circle, Altidor was able to walk into the high slot and put his shot into the top-left corner of the net, while Pieprzak and Wong chipped in the assists.

The Purple Knights scored four more times in the third period, including three power-play goals in three chances, to win going away. At 9:53, on the power play, senior forward William Côté banged home his fourth of the season on a cross-slot pass from senior defenseman Mark Higgins, with Robinson lending his second assist of the night. At 10:58, on the power play, sophomore forward Josh Dickman finished amid a scrum out front, with sophomore defenseman Stephen Inman picking up the lone assist. At 13:04, Wong's second of the game came off assists from Altidor and Pieprzak. Finally, on the power play at 19:15, Potter put home a rebound for his first of the season, with Higgins and sophomore forward Connor Mitchell picking up assists.

Roy started in goal for Franklin Pierce, made 10 saves against 14 shots in the first period and took the loss (1-5-0) before being relieved by junior Kyle Moran (Marshfield, Mass.) to start the second period. Moran stopped 23 of 26 shots over the next 30:58, before ceding to sophomore Austin Christopher (Winthrop, Maine) after the Dickman goal. Christopher logged the final 9:02 and made four saves against six shots in his collegiate debut.

At the other end of the ice, Donzanti made 16 saves against 18 shots to pick up the win (7-8-2) in the crease for Saint Michael's.

The Ravens return to the ice on Saturday, Feb. 7, when they travel to Brockport for the final non-conference game of the season. Opening faceoff is set for 7 p.m. at Tuttle North Ice Arena in Brockport, N.Y. Franklin Pierce next plays at home on Thursday, Feb. 12 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).