Shane Murphy scores for Ravens

Box Score

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (February 7, 2009) – Freshman forward Paul Graham (Quincy, Mass./Northern Cyclones (AtJHL)) scored twice, including the game-winning goal, on Saturday night to lead Massachusetts Dartmouth to a 4-1 victory over the Franklin Pierce University men’s ice hockey team in ECAC Northeast Conference play at Hetland Ice Arena. Senior forward Shane Murphy (Tolland, Conn./The Gunnery School) scored the lone goal of the game for Franklin Pierce in defeat.

Massachusetts Dartmouth would take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission after a pair of goals by Graham in the latter half of the first period. First, Graham slipped a backhand shot past Franklin Pierce sophomore goaltender Matt McCarthy (Natick, Mass./New Hampton School) on the glove side at the 10:41 mark of the opening frame. Freshman forwards Craig Cardone (Westford, Mass./Westford Academy) and Rob Dudley (Douglas, Mass./Middlesex School) picked up the assists on Graham’s fourth goal of the season. Later, with 1:40 to play in the period, Graham fired a wrist shot between McCarthy’s pads to give the Corsairs a 2-0 edge, as Dudley and junior defenseman Graeme Bourne (Redlands, Calif./Campbell River Storm (VIJHL)) notched the assists.

The Corsairs then pushed the lead to 4-0 with a pair of goals in the second period as well. Sophomore forward Billy Manning (Stoughton, Mass./Bridgewater Jr. Bandits (EJHL)) stuffed home his eighth goal of the season off a rebound at the 6:12 mark. Freshman forward Shawn Manning (Stoughton, Mass./Salisbury School) took the original shot on the play and senior defenseman Eric Quinlan (Saugus, Mass./Avon (Conn.) Old Farms) picked up an assist as well. With 3:43 to play in the middle frame, junior forward Aaron Blades (Chino, Calif./Cushing Academy) picked up his third of the season when he banged in a feed from sophomore forward Jason Stahl (Londonderry, N.H./Valley Jr. Warriors (EJHL)).

Franklin Pierce created the 4-1 final at the 8:22 mark of the third period when Murphy converted the rebound of a shot by freshman forward Anthony Chighisola (Whitman, Mass./Williston Northampton). Junior forward Phil LaBreck (Thornton, N.H./John Stark Regional) also picked up an assist on Murphy’s sixth goal of the season.

Massachusetts Dartmouth finished with a 33-30 edge in shots on goal and went 0-for-6 on the power play. Franklin Pierce posted a 0-for-4 mark with the man-advantage.

Senior goaltender Jeff Green (Medway, Mass./Valley Jr. Warriors (EJHL)) made 29 saves in net for Massachusetts Dartmouth to pick up the victory. McCarthy stopped 29 shots between the pipes for Franklin Pierce and took the loss.

The Ravens (5-13-2, 1-2-0 NE-10, 4-8-2 ECAC Northeast) return to the ice on Saturday, Feb. 12, when return home to host Southern New Hampshire for a Northeast-10 Conference contest. Faceoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at The Winchendon School Ice Arena in Winchendon, Mass. Massachusetts Dartmouth (14-5-2, 11-1-1 ECAC Northeast) returns to action on Feb. 12 at Wentworth.