WINCHENDON, Mass. (February 15, 2022) – Goaltender Ian Wallace (West Islip, N.Y.) did enough to keep the Franklin Pierce University men's ice hockey team in it on Tuesday night. Frankly, he did more than enough. It was a 52-save outing for the graduate student, matching his career high, as he did everything but hold off visiting Assumption with a whip and chair, a la a lion tamer. The strong performance in the crease allowed the Ravens to hang around long enough for the team's embattled special teams unit to find a pair of power-play goals, which keyed a three-goal third period rally, as Franklin Pierce turned a 3-0 second-intermission deficit into a 3-3 (OT) tie at Jason Ritchie Ice Arena.

With the tie, Franklin Pierce moves its record to 6-15-2 (3-9-2 NE10), while Assumption now stands at 11-10-2 (8-5-1 NE10). Tuesday was the first of a three-game series between the Ravens and Greyhounds to close out the regular season. The two will meet at Franklin Pierce again at 1:30 p.m. Friday, and then at Assumption at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

The Greyhounds started the scoring early, with the only goal of the first period coming 2:23 into the game. Senior Chase Davenport received the puck at the right point after a defensive-zone turnover by the Ravens. Davenport held the puck for a moment before shooting. Senior John Fine-Lease got his stick on the puck first, but junior Shane Sullivan redirected the puck a second time to beat Wallace and open the scoring with his second of the season.

The ice seemed to be tilted towards the Franklin Pierce end in the second period, as Assumption chalked up a 19-4 shots advantage in the middle frame and, unsurprisingly, found the better of the stanza's chances. The Greyhounds doubled their lead at the 11:50 mark, when senior Dante Maribito finished a 2-on-0 rush for his 10^th of the year. Senior Devan Smith gave the puck to Maribito on the right side of the neutral zone. Maribito then played give-and-go with junior Colin Phillipon in the attacking end and roofed a one-timer when he received the return feed.

The Greyhounds needed just 1:58 to extend the lead to 3-0. Senior Christopher Stalmok finished a strong individual effort, as he skated through two Ravens on his way towards the net and his third of the season. Stalmok squeezed the puck between Wallace and the post to finish the play.

Trailing by three entering the final period of regulation, the Franklin Pierce power play jumpstarted a three-goal rally, which spanned just 3:56. The first goal came on the man-advantage at 6:44. Junior forward Conor Foley (Nahant, Mass.) had the puck at the top of the blue line and slid it to senior Ryan Gorbett (Cleveland Heights, Ohio) at the top of the right circle. Gorbett found sophomore Cody Rumsey (York, Pa.) alone in the slot, and the latter hammered a one-timer into the top-left corner to get the Ravens on the board with his ninth of the year.

Another power-play marker, just 2:24 later officially made things interesting. This time, Rumsey carried the puck to the bottom of the right circle. From there, his centering feed was deflected, but made its way to Gorbett in the slot anyway. The latter's eighth of the campaign cut the gap to just one, with nearly 11 minutes still to play.

The Ravens needed just 92 more seconds to finish the comeback though, as Foley made it three goals in less than four minutes, with the equalizer at 10:40. Freshman Michael Flaherty (Rockland, Mass.) found the puck in the left-wing corner and sent it to the blue line for senior David Cambria (West Bridgewater, Mass.), who walked to the middle of the blue line and took a shot. After the initial save was made, no one could spot the puck except Foley, who crashed the right post and banged home the rebound for his 10^th of the year.

Neither team could find anything the rest of the way in regulation, and then Wallace (3-7-2) added five more saves in the overtime, to go with his 47 from regulation, as he largely stole a point for the Ravens. Graduate student David Altman (9-7-2) made 17 saves on 20 shots for Assumption.