Gargin nets lone goal

WINCHENDON, Mass. (November 7, 2015) – Southern New Hampshire opened with a pair of goals in quick succession and would lead 3-0 through the first period on Saturday night, en route to a 6-1 win over the Franklin Pierce University men's ice hockey team at Jason Ritchie Ice Arena. Sophomore defenseman Sean McTiernan and sophomore forward Kyle Valliere scored twice each for the Penmen, while sophomore forward Sean Gargin (Staten Island, N.Y.) found the net for the Ravens in the Northeast-10 Conference contest.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 0-4-0 (0-1-0 Northeast-10), while Southern New Hampshire improves to 1-3-0 (1-0-0 Northeast-10).

SNHU capitalized on the game's first penalty to jump to the early lead. With Franklin Pierce sophomore forward David Wilcox (Stillwater, Maine) in the penalty box for roughing, Penmen senior forward Jim Gabrione worked the puck to McTiernan at the middle of the blue line. McTiernan sent a shot towards the net from there, which managed to find its way untouched through a host of bodies and into the net for his first goal of the season, at the 5:44 mark.

Just 73 seconds later, at 6:57, McTiernan would pick up his second goal of the night on a very similar play. Again, he took a feed from Gabrione, this time a few steps in front of the blue line, but still in the middle of the ice. Again, he flipped a shot into traffic. Again, the puck went untouched to the back of the net, this time for an even-strength marker.

SNHU would make it 3-0 at the 12-minute mark to cap the first period's scoring. From the right side, sophomore forward Timothy Baylis sent the puck across to Gabrione on the left side, keying a rush into the attack zone. Gabrione laid the puck back into the middle for freshman forward Artem Efimov-Barakov. The latter struggled to corral the puck at first, but after he did, he was able to snap home his second goal of the season from the slot. The goal chased Franklin Pierce senior goaltender Kyle Moran (Marshfield, Mass.) from the crease after just 12 minutes, in favor of sophomore Tom McGuckin (Clayton, N.J.).

The Penmen had the only goal of the second period, to push the lead to 4-0 through 40 minutes. The original shot on the play came from junior forward Jay Sylvia in the left circle. McGuckin made the initial save, but Valliere jammed home the rebound at the left post for his third goal of the campaign, at the 8:25 mark.

After a pair of Franklin Pierce penalties straddling the second intermission, SNHU capitalized on a brief stretch of two-man advantage early in the third stanza to push the lead to 5-0. Gabrione capped his four-point night (1-3-4) by snapping home a shot from the left circle, off an assist from Efimov-Barakov at the 1:33 mark.

Franklin Pierce picked up its only goal of the night, a power-play marker, at the 13:43 mark. Sophomore forward Brad Riccardi (Scarsdale, N.Y.) sent the puck to junior defenseman Taylor Fletcher (Leominster, Mass.) at the middle of the blue line. Fletcher uncorked his shot from there, and Gargin was able to deflect it en route to tally his second goal of the season.

Valliere's second of the night, at the 18:23 mark, created the 6-1 final. He snapped home his shot from the left circle, to the top-right corner of the goal, punctuating a rush into the offensive end. McTiernan and Sylvia picked up the helpers on the game's final goal.

Moran (0-2-0) made just seven saves against 10 shots over his 12 minutes in goal while taking the loss for Franklin Pierce. McGuckin stopped 27 of the 30 shots he faced the rest of the way. At the other end of the ice, sophomore Ryan Slatky (1-1-0) finished with 23 saves against 24 shots in the crease for SNHU.

The Ravens return to the ice on Friday, Nov. 13, when they travel to Assumption for a Northeast-10 Conference contest. Opening faceoff is set for 5:35 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). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce men's soccer apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).