Cook leads all scorers with a game-high seven points Gervais collects hat-trick for Bisons

DUDLEY, Mass. (Jan. 21, 2006) - The Franklin Pierce Ice Hockey team suffered a tough 11-4 loss to Nichols College in ECAC Northeast Conference action tonight at Jahn Rink. Bison freshman Kyle Cook (China Hills, Calif./Bay City Bombers) led all scorers, totaling a game-high seven points on two goals and five assists, while classmate Jacob Cline (Covington, GA/Cincinnati Cobras) notched six points on two goals and four assists.  

Nichols jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the first period as freshman Ryan Gervais (Chicago, IL/Chicago Force) opened the scoring, netting the first Bison goal just ten seconds into the match off assists from Cook and Cline. Gervais would add his second goal of the game later in the period, along with goals from Cook and Cline to give the Bisons the early advantage.

Franklin Pierce would strike late in the first period to cut the Nichols' lead to 4-1 as senior tri-captain Mark Gibbons (Quincy, Mass./Archbishop Williams) recorded his first goal of the season and the game off an assists from junior C.J. Demmons (Wolfeboro, N.H./Kimball Union).

Nichols increased its lead to six during the second period, as the Bisons exploded for five goals. Cook opened the period with his second goal of the game just 9:29 into the period, while Cline, freshman Anthony Monte (Chicago, IL/Chicago Force), junior Mark Shinder (Los Angeles, CA/Bay City Bombers WSHL), and senior Bob McDonald (Eagle River, WI/Wisconsin-Stout) each added a goal apiece to secure the victory.

Franklin Pierce would add a pair of goals during the second period as freshman Jeff Kasper (South Boston, Mass./ Catholic Memorial) recorded his sixth goal of the season and senior tri-captain Jason Pierce (Maynard, Mass./Nashoba Regional) added his third goal of the season.

Gibbons would tally his second goal of the game during the third period for the Ravens, but the Bisons would add two more goals, including Gervais' third goal of the game.

Nichols out shot Franklin Pierce 56-35 as the trio of Raven goalies stopped 45 shots in net. Senior goaltender Dennis Millman (Billerica, Mass./Kimball Union) led the Raven goaltenders with 17 saves in his one period of work. Freshman Keith Fink (Easton, MD/Colingwood Blues) stopped 25 shots in two periods of work for the Bisons.

Franklin Pierce (1-12-3, 0-8-2 ECAC NE, 1-3-0 NE-10) will take the ice again on Wednesday as it hosts Worcester State College at 7 p.m. Nichols College (9-5-2, 3-2-2 ECAC NE) will host Wentworth Institute of Technology tomorrow at 8 p.m.

GAME STATISTICS

Nichols 11, Franklin Pierce 4

Nichols College (9-5-2, 3-2-2  ECAC NE)      4          5          2          11
Franklin Pierce (1-12-3, 0-8-2 ECAC NE)      1          2          1          4

Scoring Summary
First Period: NIC: Ryan Gervais (Kyle Cook, Jacob Cline), 0:10; NIC: Cline (Cook, Gervais), 2:01;NIC: Gervais (Cook, Cline), 12:21; NIC: Cook (Gervais, Cline), 12:52; FP: Mark Gibbons (C.J. Demmons), 16:20;
Second Period: NIC: Cook (Cline, Glenn Cacaro), 9:29; FPC: Jeff Kasper (Chuck Matthews, Brian DelSavio), 9:50; NIC: Anthony Monte (Rocco Dabecco, Derek Porter), 10:04); FP: Jason Pierce (Shawn Dooley), 17:06; NIC: Mark Shinder (Cole Ruwe, Jeff Biber), 17:22; NIC: Cline (Cook, Brian Roux), 18:38; NIC: Bob McDonald (Cook, Monte), 18:54; 
Third Period: NIC: Gervais, 0:43; NIC: Corey Horner (Shinder, Ruwe), 1:58; FP: Gibbons, 13:41;
Goaltenders:
FP: Steve Moore (20:00), 15 saves; Robert Arduini (20:00), 13 saves; Dennis Millman (20:00), 17 saves)
NIC: Keith Fink (40:00), 25 saves; Bob Lemelin (9:48), three saves; Derek Newcomb (10:12), three saves.
Stars
1^st Star - Ryan Gervais (NIC)
2^nd Star- Jacob Cline (NIC)
3^rd Star- Kyle Cook (NIC)