Adams, Sullivan tally goal, assist each; McCarthy stops 47 shots

WORCESTER, Mass. (February 16, 2011) – Junior forward Justin Adams (Homer, Alaska) and sophomore forward Bill Sullivan (Pittsburgh, Pa.) notched a goal and an assist each and senior goaltender Matt McCarthy (Natick, Mass.) made 47 saves on Wednesday night to lead the Franklin Pierce University ice hockey team to a 6-4 win over Assumption in Northeast-10 Conference play at Buffone Rink. Senior defenseman Matt Scioli scored a goal and added two assists in the losing effort for Assumption.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 7-17-0 (6-4-0 Northeast-10), while Assumption falls to 9-14-0 (4-6-0 Northeast-10). In addition to giving Franklin Pierce a three-game sweep of the season series against Assumption, the victory ties the program record for wins in a season, originally set last season. Furthermore, the sixth Northeast-10 win of the season sets a new program high-water mark for most conference wins.

The Ravens opened the scoring 6:25 into the opening period, when Adams netted his first goal of the season on assists from Sullivan and freshman forward Bryan Colella (Medfield, Mass.). Franklin Pierce would not relinquish the lead the rest of the night, and would make it 2-0 just 1:18 later on the first career goal by freshman defenseman T.J. Dineen (Amherst, N.H.), who scored off a feed from sophomore forward Roscoe Sweeney (Falmouth, Mass.).

Towards the end of the first frame, Assumption cut the lead to 2-1 at the 16:06 mark on the second of the season by sophomore forward Keven Meehan, while Scioli chipped in the lone assist.

Franklin Pierce got right back at it after the first intermission, stretching the lead back to two goals at 3-1 on the seventh goal of the season for sophomore forward Adam Dallaire (Waltham, Mass.) 2:21 into the middle stanza. Colella and sophomore forward Nate Ashley (Ogdensburg, N.Y.) provided the assists. Junior forward Pat O'Kane answered with his 13th of the season for Assumption at 3:18, off of feeds from Scioli and junior forward Taylor Larsen.

Sophomore defenseman Tyler Cornele (Cape Coral, Fla.) kept the goals coming with his seventh of the season from sophomore forward Dino Federico (Canton, Mass.) at 5:21 to make it 4-2 Ravens. Once again, Assumption would answer later in the period, as junior defenseman Kevin Glanzman notched his seventh of the season with assists going to Larsen and freshman defenseman Mike Janson on the power play at the 14:58 mark.

Franklin Pierce potted two goals in the final 1:26 of the middle frame to take a 6-3 lead into the second intermission. Senior forward Sean Woodring (Rogue River, Ore.) put home his fourth of the season, the eventual game-winning goal, at 18:34 off a feed from Sweeney, who notched his second assist of the night. Just 52 seconds later, Sullivan scored his third of the season on an assist from Adams, as both collected their second point of the game.

Scioli scored the only goal of the third period, just 24 seconds into the stanza, to create the 6-4 final. Glanzman and Meehan provided the assists on Scioli's first goal of the season.

McCarthy made his first start of the season and made a career-best 47 saves to pick up the win (1-0-0) in net for Franklin Pierce. Junior goaltender Nick Blanchette started between the pipes for Assumption and stopped 12 shots before being relieved after the fourth Franklin Pierce goal. Freshman Bobby Bowden made 20 saves the rest of the way and took the loss (1-7-0) for the Greyhounds.

Assumption posted a 51-38 advantage in shots on goal on the night and went 1-for-7 on the power play. Franklin Pierce finished 0-for-5 with the man-advantage.

The Ravens return to the ice on Saturday, Feb. 19, when they travel to Stonehill to wrap up the regular season with a Northeast-10 Conference contest. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 4:45 p.m. at Foxboro Sports Center in Foxborough, Mass. Franklin Pierce will host a game in the quarterfinal round of the Northeast-10 Conference Championship at 7 p.m. on Feb. 26 at Jason Ritchie Ice Arena, against an opponent to be determined.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics).