MANCHESTER, N.H. (December 7, 2019) -- A four-point night, including a hat trick, for senior captain Alex Lester (Methuen, Mass.) and 28 saves from junior goaltender Ian Wallace (West Islip, N.Y.) propelled the Franklin Pierce University men's ice hockey team to a 5-3 win over Northeast-10 Conference opponent Saint Anselm on the road at Sullivan Arena on Saturday afternoon.

For the Ravens, it marked their seventh straight win and pushed their unbeaten streak to nine games (8-0-1). On the season, the Ravens improve to 8-2-1 (3-1-0 NE10), while Saint Anselm falls to 7-5-1 (4-2-1 NE10). The two teams will wrap up the three-game season series with a pair of contests at Franklin Pierce on Feb. 14-15.

The Hawks would get off and running early, with a goal 1:50 into the game. Junior forward Matt Chisholm buried a chance past Wallace for his fourth goal of the season.

The Hawks buzzed around the Ravens' end early on, but Franklin Pierce got some stops from Wallace to keep the deficit at one. Franklin Pierce would get on the board courtesy of Lester, who was sprung in on a partial breakaway by senior forward James Morrissey (West Haven, Conn.). Despite being forced to his backhand, Lester was able to protect the puck, before top-shelfing a shot over the glove hand of freshman Nick Howard for his sixth of the season.

The Hawks would get one more before the period ended to break the 1-1 tie. Sophomore forward Anthony Iacullo scored his sixth of the season with 3:19 left to play in the first. Freshman forward Andrew Andary and senior defenseman Liam O'Sullivan picked up assists. The Hawks would take a 2-1 lead and 11-6 shot advantage into the first intermission.

It would take the Ravens just one minute into the second period to tie the game again. Lester picked up his second of the game, as he finished off a 2-on-1 rush with sophomore forward Chris Stevenson (Arvada, Colo.). Stevenson broke in down the left side and slid a pass over to Lester who blasted a shot past Howard.

Wallace later drew an interference penalty against freshman forward Matt Hayes to send the Ravens onto the power play. This time it was Lester with the setup, as he fed Stevenson in front for the go-ahead goal. Stevenson's fifth of the season would give the Ravens their first lead of the night, but it was short lived.

Just 20 seconds after Stevenson's tally, the Hawks responded with a goal from Sean Verrier. Chisholm made a great feed from the right side of the Ravens' end to Verrier who found a soft spot in front of the goal. The senior pushed home his first of the season past a sprawling Wallace and the game was knotted up again.

The shots after 40 minutes heavily favored the Hawks, at 24-11, and yet the game was up for grabs heading into the third. A late penalty to freshman forward Chris Lemay would see the Ravens begin the final period with a carryover power play.

As he did in the second, Lester would strike early in the third, this time 52 seconds in. Lester's third of the game and his fourth point (3-1-4) capped off a dominant outing for the reigning NE10 Player of the Year. His eighth goal of the season gave Franklin Pierce the lead for good.

Ahead by one, the Ravens would get some much-needed insurance as senior forward Matthew Toombs (Pleasanton, Calif.) buried his first of the season after a fortuitous deflection off a Hawks' defender. With Howard moving to his right, Toombs stepped into the puck as it popped out in the bottom of the circle and put it home to stake the lead to 5-3.

The Ravens held the Hawks to only seven shots in the third period, with Wallace turning aside all of them. The win marked just the second victory over Saint Anselm in program history.

Wallace (3-2-0) picked up his second consecutive win after turning aside 28 of 31 shots. Despite facing only 19 shots, Howard (3-4-1) allowed five goals and made just 14 saves.

The Ravens will look to continue their unbeaten streak in the semester finale, as they host Nichols in a non-conference battle on Saturday, Dec. 14. Puck drop from the Jason Ritchie Ice Arena in Winchendon, Mass., is set for 1 p.m.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (https://www.fpuravens.com). 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 ice hockey apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' brand new online store (https://www.shopfpuravens.com).