Manginell contributes goal, assist

WINCHENDON, Mass. (February 16, 2015) – With its postseason hopes on the line at the Jason Ritchie Ice Arena, the Franklin Pierce University men's ice hockey team started strong on Monday night, with two goals in the first 10:03. Assumption had other ideas however, and answered with three goals in the second period and three more in the third to come away with the 6-3, Northeast-10 Conference win. Junior forward Brandon Bete had two goals and an assist to lead the way for the Greyhounds.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 3-19-1 (2-7-1 Northeast-10), while Assumption improves to 8-14-0 (4-6-0 Northeast-10). With the two teams already having split a pair of games in November, the win gave Assumption the victory in the three-game season series, as well as the two points in the Northeast-10 standings which come with the series win. The two points allowed Assumption to leapfrog Southern New Hampshire and clinch the fourth and final berth in the 2015 Northeast-10 Championship.

After honoring its three-player senior class before the start of its home finale, Franklin Pierce struck twice early to build a 2-0 lead in the pivotal contest. On a first-period power play, senior forward Bryan Gillentine (Atlanta, Ga.) threw the puck on net from the left-wing side, and the shot was turned aside by Assumption junior goaltender Chris Hemhauser. The rebound was left just in front of the crease, and freshman forward Evan Marek (Enfield, Conn.) was the first man on the scene to put it into the net. Sophomore defenseman Matthew Geib (Cleveland, Ohio) also had an assist on Marek's third goal of the season at the 5:10 mark.

The Ravens struck again, at 10:03, in the immediate aftermath of a faceoff in the right-wing circle. Freshman forward Blake Manginell (Troy, Mich.) took the faceoff, and freshman forward Anthony Langevin (Albany, N.Y.) gained possession for Franklin Pierce off the draw. Langevin ultimately threw the puck towards the goal from a sharp angle on the right side and wound up with his second goal of the campaign as the puck ended up in the goal behind Hemhauser.

Franklin Pierce would hold the 2-0 lead through the first intermission, but Assumption quickly cut the lead in half to start the second frame. The Greyhounds capitalized on a power play which carried over from the end of the first period. The power-play unit worked the puck to the right point for sophomore forward Ryan Gomez, and he wound to blast a shot from there. The shot was well-placed through traffic and picked the corner for Gomez's fifth goal of the season. Freshman defenseman Matt Cowles and Bete had the assists just 55 seconds into the middle stanza.

A failed attempt to keep the puck in the offensive end less than five minutes later allowed Assumption to tie the game. The Franklin Pierce defenseman at the left point made a pinch up the boards in an attempt to prevent the puck from leaving the zone, but he came up empty as the puck bounced by him. Freshman forward Tommy Mahoney went past the defenseman as well, caught up to the puck in the neutral zone and wound up on a partial breakaway, which led to his third goal of the season at 5:14.

The Greyhounds would take a 3-2 lead into the second intermission after freshman forward Cam Laughlin put away his third of the season from the slot. Mahoney picked up the lone assist at 17:18.

Franklin Pierce regrouped in the locker room and tied the game at 3-3 just 43 seconds into the third period. Manginell wound up with the puck on a breakaway from center ice in and went hard to the net. He was able to put the puck behind Hemhuaser for his third goal of the season, before barreling through both Hemhauser and the goal itself.

The game would stay 3-3 through the midpoint of the third period, but Assumption scored three times in the final 7:17 to take the victory and the final postseason berth. After the defense knocked down a shot by Gomez, Bete finished off the rebound from the left side for his 13th of the season at 12:43. Junior forward Pat Trainor chipped in an assist as well on the eventual game-winning goal.

Bete struck again just 2:19 later, at the 15:02 mark. On a rush into the offensive end, Gomez got the puck to Bete in the left circle. The latter took a wrist shot from there and wired it to the top-left corner of the net to push the lead to 5-3. Senior forward Brennen Shaw would add an empty-net goal off of assists from sophomore forward Paul Amarone and senior defenseman Ben Kuzma at the 19:30 mark to create the 6-3 final.

Junior goaltender Kyle Moran (Marshfield, Mass.) finished with 41 saves against 46 shots and took the loss (1-9-1) in net for Franklin Pierce. Hemhauser stopped 28 of 31 shots on his goal to pick up the win (8-10-0) between the pipes for Assumption.

The Ravens return to the ice on Wednesday, Feb. 18, when they travel to Stonehill to wrap up the season with a Northeast-10 Conference contest. Opening faceoff is set for 6:40 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).