Federico nets two

FITCHBURG, Mass. (November 12, 2011) – Junior forward Dino Federico (Canton, Mass.) scored a pair of goals on Saturday afternoon in a back-and-forth game, as the Franklin Pierce University men's ice hockey team skated to a 4-4 tie with Southern New Hampshire in the consolation round of the ICFCU Shootout, hosted by Fitchburg State at Wallace Civic Center. Freshman forward John Humphrey scored twice and added an assist to pace the Penmen with three points. Federico finished with three goals in the Ravens' two games in the tournament.

With the tie, Franklin Pierce moves to 0-3-1 (0-0-0 Northeast-10), while Southern New Hampshire is now 0-3-1 (0-0-0 Northeast-10) as well.

Franklin Pierce came out of the gates firing on all cylinders and jumped to a 3-0 lead just 8:03 into the contest. First, freshman forward Brendan Moore (Springfield, Mass.) sent a feed from the left-wing corner to Federico in the slot, and the latter banged home his second of the season at the 3:05 mark of the opening frame.

Not even two minutes later, Federico would score another as the Ravens converted on the power play at the 5:00 mark. Junior defenseman Wes Russell (Marlboro, Mass.) took a shot from the left point that Federico deflected en route to beat SNHU sophomore goaltender Max Paluszynski.

Another 3:03 after Federico's second, senior forward Bill Sullivan (Pittsburgh, Pa.) got in on the act with his first of the season on a partial odd-man rush down low with junior forward Michael Carr (South Boston, Mass.). Carr slipped a pass into the slot from the left circle and Sullivan one-timed it inside the right post to make it 3-0 Franklin Pierce.

From there, the remainder of the first period would go without another goal as the Ravens took the three-goal lead to the locker room before SNHU began its rally at the 8:33 mark of the second stanza. Off a pass from freshman defenseman Dane Caracino, Humphrey wound up with the puck between the hash marks and snapped his second of the season to the top-right corner to get the Penmen on the board.

About 12 minutes into the period, Franklin Pierce nearly halted the rally right there, as the puck came to junior defenseman Brendan McCarron (Andover, Mass.), who had space to wind and fire from the left point. The shot beat Paluszynski along the ice on the far side, but clanged off the right post and bounced away with the game still 3-1. A shade over four minutes later, SNHU would continue to collect the momentum, making it a one-goal game with 3:19 to play in the period. Humphrey touched the puck up to freshman forward T.J. Bond along the boards on the left side of the neutral zone. Bond in turn banged a pass off the boards, around his defenseman and onto the stick of Caracino, springing him on a breakaway. Caracino made a deke move near the hash marks, which drew Franklin Pierce junior goaltender Pat Dunn (Quincy, Mass.) out and down to the ice in an attempt to poke-check the puck away. Caracino dragged the puck to his left, around Dunn, and slid it into the net to make it 3-2.

Bond provided another nifty pass later, as the Penmen knotted the game at 3-3 just 38 seconds into the third period. Working on the power play in the offensive end, Bond slipped a pass from the right circle, across the slot and to the bottom of the left circle to Humphrey, who one-timed home his second goal of the contest.

SNHU made it four straight goals 9:16 into the third, when it picked up its first lead of the afternoon off the stick of junior forward Charles Wisniewski, who sent a shot through traffic from the right point that found its way past a screened Dunn and into the net to give the Penmen a 4-3 lead.

Just 17 seconds after the Wisniewski goal, Humphrey was whistled for a five-minute major for boarding, giving Franklin Pierce an opportunity to draw even. However, SNHU was able to kill off the entire penalty, leaving the Ravens still behind a goal with just over five minutes to play.

The game would remain 4-3 until Franklin Pierce capped the scoring with just 33 seconds to play in regulation. Sophomore forward Brandon Dennis (Williamsport, Md.) sent a pass to McCarron at the right point. This time, McCarron floated a wrist shot towards the net through copious amounts of traffic. It appeared Paluszynski never saw the shot, as the puck navigated its way through the forest of bodies, over Paluszynski's left shoulder and into the net to tie the game at 4-4. The remainder of regulation and the five-minute overtime would go without another goal as the teams skated away with a tie.

Dunn (0-1-1) made 21 saves in front of the Franklin Pierce net on the afternoon, while Paluszynski (0-0-1) stopped 29 shots between the pipes for SNHU.

Franklin Pierce posted a 33-25 advantage in shots on goal in the game and went 1-for-4 on the power play. Southern New Hampshire finished 1-for-5 with the man-advantage.

The Ravens return to the ice on Wednesday, Nov. 16, when they travel to Assumption for their Northeast-10 Conference opener. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. at Buffone Rink in Worcester, Mass.

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).