Schneider scores twice for the Ravens but Ice Dogs come back from a 4-2 deficit to win

Boxscore

WINCHENDON, Mass. (November 14, 2007) – Senior forward Luke McDonough (Norfolk, Mass./ Mount St. Charles) scored the game-winning goal with 49 seconds remaining in regulation and the Ice Dogs on the power play as Assumption College escaped the Winchendon School Ice Arena with a 5-4 win over Franklin Pierce University in a non-conference men’s ice hockey game on Wednesday evening.

Junior Coursen Schneider (Stony Point, N.Y./Avon Old Farms) led all scorers with a game-high two goals to head the Raven attack, while Franklin Pierce also received tallies from senior captain Joe Fields (Towamencin, Pa./Green Mountain Glades) and freshman Sean Woodring (Rogue River, Ore./Eugene Generals). Sophomore Rob Perretta (Staten Island, N.Y./ Brockville Tiki’s) also recorded two assists for the Ravens.

Five different players scored for Assumption, capped off by McDonough’s game-winner in the final minute. John Routhier (Saugus, Mass./The Winchendon School) scored the Ice Dogs’ first goal and assisted on its final tally for two points, while Patrick Fitzgibbons (Holliston, Mass./Foxboro Stars) also pitched in with a pair of assists.

Franklin Pierce came out strong to begin the game, as Schneider found the back of the net only 54 seconds into the first period. Schneider took a pass from behind the cage by Ryan Strayer (Murfreesboro, Tenn./Enfield (Conn.)) and one-timed the puck into the top right corner of the net.

Assumption came back to tie the game thanks to a fortunate bounce off the glass at the 9:57 mark. Jim Trahon (Needham, Mass./Bridgewater Bandits) came down the right side and fired a shot high and wide of the net, but the puck came off the glass directly to Routhier at the left post, who easily found the open side of the net to tie the game at one.

After the teams traded goals before the end of the first period, Franklin Pierce utilized the nation’s most productive power play to take a 4-2 lead midway through the middle frame. Playing 5-on-4 following four penalties, Schneider again found the net following a scrum in front of the Assumption net. Then, 24 seconds after the Ravens’ Jeff Kasper (South Boston, Mass./Catholic Memorial) left the box to give the team a two-man advantage, Woodring scored in the same manner to put the Ravens up a pair at 4-2.

With the two power-play goals, Franklin Pierce increased its power-play success rate to 48.4 percent (15-of-31), the highest rate among any men’s team in all NCAA divisions.

The Ravens, however, could not hold the lead as Assumption scored the final three goals of the game to escape with the win. Pat Keenan (Candia, N.H./Berwick Academy) got the Ice Dogs back to within one later in the second period after picking up the rebound of his blocked shot and finding the net. At 12:28 of the third period, Mike Rust (Laguna Niguel, Calif./Cushing Academy) rushed the net from the left side and swept the puck under Franklin Pierce freshman Jeremy Rossignolo (Rochester, N.Y./Springfield Pics) to knot the game at four.

Then, with only 1:36 remaining in regulation, Raven junior Shane Murphy (Tolland, Conn./The Gunnery School) was given a five-minute major for hitting from behind, and 47 seconds later McDonough found the net with the man advantage to give Assumption the win.

Franklin Pierce held a 32-22 edge in shots on goal, including an 11-5 edge in the final period. Jamie DiGiulio (Peabody, Mass./Tilton (N.H.) School) played well for Assumption, however, turning away 28 shots to earn his first win of the season. Rossignolo made 17 saves on 22 shots for the Ravens.

Franklin Pierce (1-3-0, 0-1-0 ECAC NE, 0-0-0 NE-10) will continue its four-game homestand on Saturday, when the Ravens host Wentworth Institute of Technology in an ECAC Northeast Conference matchup at 1:30 p.m. Assumption (3-3-0, 0-0-0 ECAC NE, 0-0-0 NE-10) returns to the ice against Saint Michael’s in a Northeast-10 Conference contest on Tuesday night.