FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (January 28, 2017) – With the season on the line, the Franklin Pierce University men's ice hockey team put 43 shots on net on Saturday night, but was held without a goal for 58:53 at Foxboro Sports Center, as the Ravens struggled to solve Stonehill sophomore goaltender William Palmer. Meanwhile, Stonehill got first-period goals from freshman forwards Conor Cassidy and Connor Jewett and never looked back on the way to a 3-1 win in Northeast-10 Conference play.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 7-13-1 (2-7-0 NE10), while Stonehill improves to 8-11-3 (5-3-0 NE10). After splitting the first two games in the season series, the victory allowed Stonehill to collect the two league standings points up for grabs for winning the three-game season series. The loss eliminated Franklin Pierce from postseason contention.

The Ravens came out buzzing on Saturday night, putting six shots on goal in the opening nine minutes, including a rush which saw strong back-to-back chances for freshman forward Alex Lester (Methuen, Mass.) and junior forward Jonathan Haun (Buffalo, N.Y.). Palmer turned aside both shots, and then Stonehill opened the scoring at the 10:36 mark. Senior goaltender Austin Christopher (Winthrop, Maine), who was making his first career start with Tom McGuckin out due to illness, made the initial save on the play, but the Ravens failed to clear the rebound. Amid a scramble in the slot, Cassidy ultimately put his 10th of the season past a down-and-out Christopher, while freshman forwards Nicholas Godin and Jack Hall provided the assists.

The goal kicked off several consecutive minutes which saw Christopher and the Franklin Pierce defense under fire. The Ravens narrowly avoided, for the moment, giving up a second quick goal, when freshman defenseman Michael Seibold rang a shot off the pipe from the right point less than 90 seconds later. Still, the Skyhawks needed just 1:41 to push the lead to 2-0, as they kept Franklin Pierce hemmed in its own end. Jewett tallied the eventual game-winner, his third goal of the campaign, at the 12:17 mark, off of assists from junior defenseman Brendan White and Seibold.

Stonehill would pick up the only goal of the second period, with a power-play marker at the 16:29 mark. Senior forward Evan Jacques made it a three-goal game with a shot from the right-wing side of the slot, producing his 12th goal of the season, with sophomore forward Christopher Page and freshman forward Cameron Wright picking up assists.

Franklin Pierce was presented with a golden opportunity to get back in the game nearly immediately after the Jacques goal. Stonehill freshman defenseman Zachary Frament took a hooking penalty at 16:55, before Page was whistled for a five-minute major for interference at 17:35, which set the Ravens up for 1:20 of 5-on-3 time, plus a power play which would carry through the opening minutes of the third period as well. Franklin Pierce was unable to convert on the two-man advantage, however, and saw two minutes of the extended power play wiped out after freshman forward Matthew Toombs (Pleasanton, Calif.) chose to steamroll Palmer on an offensive rush and took a goaltender interference penalty at 19:25.

Franklin Pierce would ultimately collect the only goal of the third period, but by the time it came, it was much too late. On a power play and with Christopher pulled for an extra attacker, junior forward Evan Marek (Enfield, Conn.) jammed home a rebound at the 18:53 mark to spoil Palmer's shutout. Sophomore defenseman Jack Williams (Suffield, Conn.) had the lone assist on Marek's third of the season, as the Ravens created the 3-1 final.

Christopher (0-1-0) finished with 35 saves against 38 shots in his emergency start, but still suffered the loss in net for Franklin Pierce. Palmer (8-10-3) piled up 42 saves against 43 shots to pick up the win between the pipes for Stonehill.

The Ravens return to the ice on Wednesday, Feb. 1, when they travel to Post for a non-conference contest. Opening faceoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at Sports Center of Connecticut in Shelton, Conn.

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 ice hockey apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).