Chighisola, Goodell each record two points

Box Score

WINCHENDON, Mass. (February 27, 2010) – Junior forward Angelo Todesca scored on a shorthanded breakaway 16:38 into overtime on Saturday night to give Stonehill a 5-4 victory over the Franklin Pierce University ice hockey team in the quarterfinal round of the Northeast-10 Conference Championship at The Winchendon School Ice Arena. The goal was Todesca’s second of the night and completed a furious comeback which saw Stonehill win after trailing 4-0 with nine minutes to play.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce concludes its season at 7-15-2. With the win, Stonehill (10-15-1) advances to the semifinal round of the Northeast-10 Championship at Saint Anselm on Wednesday.

Franklin Pierce opened up a 2-0 lead in a tight game with one goal in each of the first two periods. With 1:31 to play in the first, freshman defenseman Wesley Russell (Marlboro, Mass.) broke a scoreless tie with a his third goal of the season, scored on a slap shot through traffic from the left point on the power play. Senior forward Casey Goodell (Rochester, N.H.) and sophomore forward Anthony Chighisola (Whitman, Mass.) picked up the assists on the play. Later, 9:24 into the second period, sophomore forward Pat Shortt (New Haven, Conn.) made it 2-0 with a snapper from the left circle after he was sprung on a partial breakaway by a feed through the neutral zone by Goodell. It was Shortt’s third goal of the season.

The Ravens then appeared to break the game open with a pair of quick goals early in the third period. First, at the 6:31 mark, freshman defenseman Michael Carr (South Boston, Mass.) forced a turnover at the left point and wristed a shot which deflected off the Stonehill defense and in for his eighth goal of the season and prompted a Stonehill timeout. Just 59 seconds later, senior forward Phil LaBreck (Thornton, N.H.) pushed the lead to 4-0 as he banged home a one-timer in the slot for his 12th goal of the season on a nice feed from Chighisola in the left-wing corner. Freshman forward Roscoe Sweeney (Falmouth, Mass.) also picked up an assist on the play.

From there, it was all Stonehill, as the Skyhawks rattled off four goals in the final 8:56 of regulation to tie the game. First, with Franklin Pierce junior defenseman J.P. Gasparrini (Medway, Mass.) in the box for a hitting-from-behind penalty, Todesca picked up his first goal of the night, and 10th of the season, at the 11:04 mark on a shot from the left circle. Senior forward Pete Roundy and freshman forward Christopher Gorovitz picked up the assists on the play. Only 2:35 later, sophomore forward Mario Ranalli cut it to 4-2 and prompted a Franklin Pierce timeout with his first of the season on a wrist shot from the top of the right circle. Sophomore forward Bill Harris and freshman defenseman Tyler Gordon added the assists.

Off the ensuing faceoff, Gorovitz took the puck on a rush down the left-wing and snapped home his 11th of the season just seven seconds after Ranalli’s goal to pull Stonehill within one. Later, with the goaltender pulled for an extra attacked, senior forward Zachary Cantin sent a bouncer towards the goal that found its way through traffic and into the net for his third goal of the season. Todesca and Gorovitz tallied the assists as Stonehill tied the game with 49 seconds to play.

With that, the game headed to overtime and tensions mounted as both teams were forced to kill off penalties in the extra frame. With Stonehill shorthanded late in the stanza, Todesca made a play high in his defensive zone to force a turnover and spring himself the other way on a breakaway. He snapped a shot past Franklin Pierce sophomore goaltender Ben Siok (Holden, Mass.) to give Stonehill the victory 16:38 into the extra session.

Siok made 31 saves in net and took the loss (4-9-2) for Franklin Pierce. Junior goaltender Mike Manna stopped 28 shots and picked up the win (3-7-1) between the pipes for Stonehill.

Stonehill posted a 36-32 advantage in shots on goal in the game and went 1-for-7 on the power play. Franklin Pierce finished 1-for-7 with the man-advantage.