Men’s Ice Hockey’s Felled at Trinity (Conn.), 11-0

HARTFORD, Conn. (November 26, 2017) – No. 5 nationally ranked Trinity popped home four goals in the first period and never looked back against the Franklin Pierce University men's ice hockey team on Saturday afternoon at Williams Rink in the Koeppel Community Sports Center. The host Bantams were dominant throughout the day, as they piled up a 77-17 advantage in shots on the way to an 11-0 win in non-conference play. Freshman forward Eric Benshadle put together a natural hat trick for Trinity in the third period, as part of a four-point afternoon (3-1-4).

With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 2-7-0, and has dropped four in a row, while Trinity runs its season-opening winning streak to five games and stands at 5-0-0. Trinity has not lost at Williams Rink in nearly a full calendar year, and extended its home-ice winning streak to 16 games with the victory. The Bantams have qualified for the NCAA Championship each of the last three seasons.

Trinity -- which was the 2015 Division III national champion and the national runner-up a year ago -- scored early and often on Sunday in the Insurance City. The Bantams put home the only goal they would need at 7:16 of the first period. Freshman forward Nicholas Polsinelli cut behind the net moving from right to left. As he cleared the goal cage on the left-wing side, he slung a pass out front, though it appeared to go through its intended target. However, freshman forward Dylan Healey was on the backdoor, at the bottom of the right-wing circle to clean things up and open the scoring. Junior forward Ryan Pfeffer provided an assist as well, on Healey's third goal of the campaign.

The Bantams would then strike three times in a span of just 84 seconds, later in the stanza, to break the game open. At 13:32, senior forward Tyler Whitney snapped a shot inside the far post from the bottom of the right-wing circle for his third score of the campaign, unassisted. Just 25 seconds later, at 13:57, Healey had the finish on his second goal of the game right out in front, while Pfeffer and sophomore defenseman Liam Feeney provided the assists.

Finally, at 14:56, Trinity used a power-play goal to make it 4-0 before the first intermission. Whitney fired a pass from the right circle across the high slot to senior forward Anthony Sabitsky. The latter snapped home his third of the season from the left circle, while Feeney added his second of three points (1-2-3) on the day with an assist. Franklin Pierce took its timeout after the fourth Bantams goal and pulled its starting netminder, senior Austin Christopher (Winthrop, Maine). Freshman Ian Wallace (West Islip, N.Y.) made his collegiate debut in relief and went the rest of the way in the crease for the Ravens.

Trinity struck twice in the second period to push the lead out to 6-0. First, junior forward Ross Mandigo had the feed from the right half boards, across the high slot to the top of the left circle. Sophomore forward Jack McCarthy stepped into a huge, one-time slap shot from there and powered his first goal of the season inside the left post before Wallace could get across the net. Freshman defenseman Timothy Weinstein tacked on an assist as well, at 3:39.

Later, the Bantams finished off a 3-on-2 rush into the offensive end at 11:47, with the first of the season from senior forward Bradley Buvinow. He executed a nifty give-and-go with Weinstein after crossing the blue line and then snapped home a shot from the high slot, on the edge of the right-wing circle. Sophomore defenseman Andy Chugg provided an assist as well.

Trinity poured in five more goals in the third period to create the 11-0 final. At 3:02, Feeney tucked a shot through traffic and inside the right post from the high slot for his second goal of the year. Weinstein then had an easy finish from right on top of the crease for his first collegiate tally, at 5:38. Mandigo did the heavy lifting on the shorthanded marker, as he led an odd-man rush down the left-wing side. As he crashed the net, Mandigo faked a wrist shot, and then slipped a pass across the top of the crease to Weinstein for the one-time finish, to make it 8-0

From there, it was "The Eric Benshadle Show", as he rattled off three straight goals for his first career hat trick, and one of the natural variety, no less. At 10:41, he put home a loose puck amid a scramble out front, while Sabitsky and Whitney tacked on assists. On a two-man advantage at 14:36, Benshadle had a one-time finish at the left post, off a feed from the top of the right-circle by freshman defenseman James Callahan. Callahan had the helper on the final goal of the afternoon as well, as Benshadle stuffed home a wrap-around attempt at the left post to cap the scoring.

Christopher (1-2-0) made 14 saves against 18 shots over the opening 14:56 and suffered the loss in net for Franklin Pierce. Wallace, thrust into a tough spot in his collegiate debut, piled up 52 saves against 59 shots over the final 45:04. It marked the 13^th outing of 50 or more saves in program history, and was the most saves in program annals by a goalie who did not start the game.

The Ravens return to the ice when they return to Northeast-10 Conference play on Friday, Dec. 1, with a trip to Saint Anselm. Opening faceoff is set for 7 p.m. at Sullivan Arena in Manchester, N.H.

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 ice hockey apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).