WINCHENDON, Mass. (January 11, 2019) – A goal apiece in the first and second periods would be enough to get the job done on home ice for the Franklin Pierce University men's ice hockey team on Friday night. The Ravens surrendered a goal early in the third, but held on down the stretch to post a 2-1 win over visiting Post in non-conference play at Jason Ritchie Ice Arena. Franklin Pierce piled up a season-best 44 shots on goal in the victory.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 7-7-0, while Post falls to 3-10-0. The two teams will meet again on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Jason Ritchie Ice Arena.

Franklin Pierce struck for the only goal of the first period, as junior forward Alex Lester (Methuen, Mass.) put home a power-play goal at the 15-minute mark. Junior forward James Morrissey (West Haven, Conn.) helped win the puck deep in the left-wing corner, and worked it to senior forward Nate Indelicato (Pembroke, Mass.), who walked out to the bottom of the left circle and sprawled to the ice as he put a backhand shot on net. Post sophomore goaltender Brandon Brown made the initial stop on the play, but Lester was there to clean up the loose puck and bang the rebound to the back of the net for his fifth goal of the season.

Morrissey later picked up his fifth of the campaign as well, as he scored the second period's lone goal, at 11:31, which would ultimately stand as the game-winner. Pushing into the zone on the left-wing side, junior forward Kyle Gosselin (Haverhill, Mass.) passed the puck ahead to Morrissey, who carried into the left circle and then slipped a pass across the slot to freshman forward Chris Stevenson (Arvada, Colo.), who was crashing down the right side. Stevenson's shot was saved, but the rebound came off the right pad of Brown and straight to Gosselin who salted away the rebound to make it 2-0.

Post attempted to mount a comeback in the third, as the Eagles struck just 97 second into the stanza. Sophomore defenseman Sean Castagna helped to win the puck deep in his own defensive end and got it to junior defenseman Lucas Smith, who pushed out of the zone. Junior forward Tyler Hackett then took the puck and forged ahead, through the left-wing side of the neutral zone. Hackett avoided an ill-timed pinch by a Franklin Pierce defenseman along the boards and was left leading a 2-on-1 into the offensive end. Hackett ultimately took the shot himself and picked the top-right corner for his fifth goal of the year.

Post would ultimately short-circuit its own comeback effort in the final minute of the third. At the 19:08 mark, freshman defenseman Michael Karas was sent to the penalty box for roughing, amid a skirmish in front of the Post net. If that weren't enough to finish off the comeback bid, the Eagles immediately tacked on a bench minor for unsportsmanlike conduct, and Post faced a two-man deficit the rest of the way, as the Ravens went on to finish off the 2-1 win.

Freshman goaltender Kyle Martin (Westford, Mass.) finished with 30 saves against 31 shots on goal to pick up the win (2-1-0) in net for Franklin Pierce. Brown (2-8-0) piled up 42 saves against 44 shots in the other crease while taking the loss. 

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (https://www.fpuravens.com). 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 hockey apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (https://www.fpuravens.com/store).