WINCHENDON, Mass. (February 2, 2005) - The Franklin Pierce ice hockey team suffered a 4-2 defeat to ECAC Northeast opponent Framingham State College tonight at the Robinson-Broadhurst Arena in Winchendon, Mass. The Rams picked up their second straight win and ended the Ravens two-game unbeaten streak.

Sophomore Tim Richard (Leominster, Mass./Leominster), classmate Donald Morgan (Burlington, Mass./Burlington) and junior James Crank (West Bloomfield, Mich./Springfield Spirit) registered a goal and an assist apiece for Framingham State.

The game went scoreless until the 8:13 mark of the second period, when Richard took a feed from classmate Craig Stern (Camp Hill, Pa./Huntsville Wildcats) to give the Rams a 1-0 edge. Crank took advantage of a power-play opportunity in the 11^th minute of the second frame to give the visitors a two-goal cushion.

Franklin Pierce netted two straight goals of their own to knot the game at two. Junior Jason Pierce (Maynard, Mass./Nashoba Regional) scored the Ravens first goal on a power-play with one second remaining in the second period. Sophomore Brian DelSavio (Orangeburg, N.Y./Pearl River) tallied the equalizer 5:10 into the third period.

Sophomore Ben Colby (Newbury, Mass./Triton Regional) broke the tie less than five minutes later with a power-play goal. Morgan followed Colby's game-winner with an insurance goal late in the contest.

Framingham State senior goaltender Paul Morgan (Natick, Mass./Natick) stopped 43 shots en route to the victory. Ravens netminder Dennis Millman (Billerica, Mass./Kimball Union) took the loss despite saving 36 shots.

Franklin Pierce (5-10-1, 1-3-0 NE-10, 4-7-1 ECAC-NE) will take the ice again on Saturday, when they open up a three-game road trip with a Conference clash at UMass Dartmouth beginning at 5 p.m. Framingham (3-11-1, 2-7-1 ECAC NE) plays again on Sunday, as they travel to Conference foe Suffolk for their third of four straight road games starting at 2 p.m.

Game Statistics

Framingham State 4, Franklin Pierce 2

Scoring Summary

First Period:
No Scoring

Second Period:  
FSC: Tim Richard (Craig Stern) 8:13
FSC: James Crank (Donald Morgan, Daniel Haskins) 11:34 PP
FP: Jason Pierce (Mark Gibbons, Chuck Matthews) 19:59 PP

Third Period:
FPC: Brian DelSavio (Brett Bilodeau) 5:10
FSC: Ben Colby (Richard, Crank) 10:00 PP
FSC: Morgan (Joey Dalessio, Russ O'Driscoll) 18:14

Goaltenders:
FSC: Paul Morgan (60:00) 43 saves, 2 goals against
FP: Dennis Millman (58:50) 36 saves, 4 goals against

Shots on Goal:
FSC: 10-19-11-40
FP: 15-14-16-45

Three Stars:
1^st Star: Paul Morgan (FSC)
2^nd Star: James Crank (FSC)
3^rd Star: Ben Colby (FSC)