WINCHENDON, Mass. (December 6, 2016) – Junior goaltender Tom McGuckin (Clayton, N.J.) piled up 39 saves for the Franklin Pierce University men's ice hockey team on Tuesday night, but a second-period goal was the difference for visiting Saint Michael's, which pulled out a 2-1 victory. Senior forward Josh Dickman put home the game-winning goal after the midway point of the middle stanza, and the Purple Knights made it hold up the rest of the way in Northeast-10 Conference play at Jason Ritchie Ice Arena.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 6-7-0 (2-3-0 NE10), while Saint Michael's improves to 4-7-1 (2-1-0 NE10).

The two teams traded goals in the first period, with one side striking on either side of the midpoint of the frame. Franklin Pierce opened the scoring at the 9:21 mark, off a bit of an odd play. One of the referees got caught in no man's land in the left-wing circle, was tangled up with the Saint Michael's defense and had the puck deflect off his skate. Cutting towards the left-wing boards, freshman forward Kyle Gosselin (Haverhill, Mass.) was able to touch the puck to sophomore forward Nate Indelicato (Pembroke, Mass.), who was cutting the other way with speed. Indelicato dragged the puck into the slot and then snapped a shot over the glove shoulder of Saint Michael's sophomore goaltender Chris Johnson and into the top-right corner of the net for his sixth goal of the season.

Saint Michael's evened things up with a power-play marker just 2:31 later, at the 11:52 mark. On a rush into the offensive end, junior forward Eric Salzillo put a shot on net, which McGuckin turned aside. The rebound came to the bottom of the left-wing circle for sophomore forward Sam D'Antuono, who tried to bury the puck before McGuckin could react. D'Antuono flubbed the shot, however, and the puck was only pushed slowly towards the net. Salzillo had continued to crash the net after his initial shot, which allowed him to clean up the trickling puck and shove it across the line for his sixth goal of the campaign.

The Purple Knights would have the only goal of the second period, when Dickman struck for the eventual game-winner at the 11:51 mark. The goal came just five seconds after a power play expired, and occurred before Franklin Pierce was able to return the penalized player to the run of play. A defensive breakdown left Saint Michael's with a 2-on-1 down low in the offensive end. With the puck in the left-wing circle, senior defenseman Shawn Morrow shuttled a pass across the slot to Dickman. The latter had an easy, one-time finish into an all-but empty net to cap the night's scoring.

The remainder of the second period and the entirety of the third period went without further scoring, as the Purple Knights came away with the 2-1 victory.

McGuckin (6-7-0) finished with a season-high 39 saves against 41 shots on goal in a losing effort between the pipes for Franklin Pierce. Johnson (4-7-1) notched 27 saves against 28 shots to pick up the win in the crease for Saint Michael's.

The Ravens return to the ice on Thursday, Dec. 29, when they travel to Massachusetts Boston for the first day of the 52nd Annual Codfish Bowl Tournament. The Ravens will square off with Salve Regina at 4 p.m. Edward T. Barry Ice Rink in Boston.

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' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).