Northeast-10 Conference men's ice hockey awards

WINCHENDON, Mass. (February 22, 2019) – For the first time in program history, the Franklin Pierce University men’s ice hockey team has produced the Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Year. The NE10’s leading scorer, junior forward Alex Lester (Methuen, Mass.) was selected as the league’s Player of the Year on Friday morning, and earned All-NE10 First Team plaudits to go with it. Also honored on Friday was freshman goaltender Kyle Martin (Westford, Mass.), who was named to the All-Rookie Team.

The honors cap a season in which the Ravens set a new program record for wins (10-15-1). Franklin Pierce also went 5-9-1 in NE10 play, to procure its most Conference wins since 2012-13.

Lester’s Player of the Year award is the sixth major NE10 award in program history, as he became the first Raven to earn the leagues marquee honor. Tom McGuckin ‘18 and Dave O’Brien ‘14 earned Goaltender of the Year honors in 2016-17 and 2012-13, respectively. Roscoe Sweeney ’13 was named Rookie of the Year in 2009-10, while Sean Woodring ’11 shared Rookie of the Year accolades in 2007-08. In 2012-13, Jaymie Harrington was selected by his peers as NE10 Coach of the Year.

Over 25 games, Lester tallied a league-leading 29 points on 10 goals and 19 assists, the latter of which tied for the NE10 lead as well. At 1.16 points per game, he was the only player in the league to average more than a point per game on the season. Lester is currently tied for third in the league in power-play points (10). He finished the year with four power-play goals and two game-winning goals. Over 14 games of NE10 play, Lester tallied 17 points on five goals and 12 assists. The 12 assists in Conference play led the league, while the 17 points were tied for first. Lester had a hand in 17 of Franklin Pierce’s 31 goals (54.8%) in league play.

Meanwhile, Martin logged just over one-third of the team’s minutes in the crease this winter, which allowed him to narrowly clear the threshold to be listed among the league leaders. As a result, he wound up as the league’s leader in goals-against average (2.05) and save percentage (.943), though he played fewer than half the minutes of those ranked immediately behind him. Over 11 appearances, including eight starts, Martin stopped 317 of 336 shots and posted a 5-3-0 record with one shutout. He was not eligible to be ranked among league leaders in NE10 play, as he logged just under one-third of the team’s minutes in league play. Martin posted a 1.03 goals-against average and a .971 save percentage over six appearances in NE10 play (four starts). 

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.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).