Cornele factors in all four goals

WORCESTER, Mass. (November 16, 2011) – With the goaltender pulled in favor of the extra attacker, junior forward Adam Dallaire (Waltham, Mass.) banged home a rebound to tie the game with 14 seconds to play in regulation on Wednesday night, as the Franklin Pierce University men's ice hockey team erased a 4-2 deficit over the final 4:38 to skate to a 4-4 tie against Assumption in Northeast-10 Conference ply at Buffone Rink. Junior defenseman Tyler Cornele (Cape Coral, Fla.) figured in on all four Franklin Pierce goals with two goals and two assists.

With the tie, Franklin Pierce moves to 0-3-2 (0-0-1 Northeast-10), while Assumption is now 2-3-1 (0-0-1 Northeast-10). It is the first of three meetings on the season for the Ravens and the Greyhounds, who will also faceoff in Winchendon, Mass. on Jan. 28 and back in Worcester on Feb. 8. The winner of the season series will earn two points in the Northeast-10 standings.

Assumption would control the run of play over much of the first period, and put home the only two goals of the frame in the process. Freshman forward Brennan Shaw opened the scoring just 2:53 into the stanza after the Greyhound forecheck created a partial 3-on-2 down low in the attacking zone. Senior forward Pat O'Kane slipped a pass from the bottom of the right circle to the bottom of the left circle, where Shaw put away his first career goal. A little over 10 minutes later, at 13:25, Assumption made it 2-0, when the rebound of a shot from the top of the right circle by junior forward Keven Meehan dropped to the top of the crease at the feet of sophomore defenseman Nick Mattiello, who knocked home his third of the campaign.

The Ravens were able to bounce back early in the second period, when senior forward Pat Shortt (New Haven, Conn.) flipped a shot towards the net from the right halfboards. Meanwhile, junior forward Dino Federico (Canton, Mass.) was stationed at the bottom of the right circle and redirected the shot to score his team-leading fourth goal of the season 99 seconds into the middle stanza.

Assumption reclaimed the two-goal lead on the power play at the 5:20 mark, when sophomore forward Ross White found himself with the puck at the bottom of the left circle and snapped a shot over the shoulder of Franklin Pierce sophomore goaltender Dave O'Brien (Groton, Mass.) for his third goal of the campaign.

The Ravens would answer with a power-play marker of their own just 3:23 after the White goal, when Cornele flipped a shot through a mess of traffic from the point. It appeared Assumption sophomore goaltender Bobby Bowden never saw the shot, which slipped just inside the left post and into the lower-left corner for Cornele's first goal of the season. The final 11:37 of the second period went without another goal, as the teams headed into the intermission with Assumption holding a 3-2 lead.

After the first half of the third frame went scoreless as well, Assumption again reclaimed a two-goal lead at the 11:45 mark. After the Greyhounds forced a turnover in the offensive end, White found himself with the puck and a 2-on-1 down low. He pushed a pass across the slot to junior forward Jaime Vona, who one-timed home his first goal of the season to give Assumption the 4-2 lead.

The Ravens still trailed by two heading into the final five minutes before staging their furious comeback. Cornele found himself in the right place in the right time with 4:38 to play, as sophomore forward Brandon Dennis (Williamsport, Md.) forced a turnover that wound up at the feet of Cornele between the circles above the hash marks. Cornele turned and sent a shot along the ice that slipped between Bowden's pads to draw Franklin Pierce within a goal.

O'Brien skated to the bench to allow the Ravens to insert an extra attacker with 46 seconds to play in regulation. The move would pay off 32 seconds later, when the rebound of a Cornele shot fell into a scramble in front of the crease. It would be Dallaire who found the puck first, and he put it to the back of the net for his first goal of the season to tie the game. After neither team could find the game-winner in the five-minute overtime, the game ended in a 4-4 tie.

O'Brien (0-1-1) made 39 saves in front of the Franklin Pierce net on the night, while Bowden (2-1-1) stopped 38 shots between the pipes for Assumption.

Assumption posted a 43-42 advantage in shots on goal in the game and went 1-for-3 on the power play. Franklin Pierce finished 1-for-3 with the man-advantage as well.

The Ravens return to the ice on Saturday, Nov. 19, when they return home to host Southern New Hampshire in a Northeast-10 Conference contest. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Jason Ritchie Ice Arena in Winchendon.

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).