Wallace Stellar Again, Men’s Ice Hockey Caps Regular Season with 2-0 win at Assumption
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Franklin Pierce (8-15-2, 5-9-2) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
|
Assumption (11-12-2, 8-7-1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
WORCESTER, Mass. (February 19, 2022) -- After a slow start to the month of February, the Franklin Pierce University men's ice hockey team has now closed the regular season with back-to-back wins and a three-game unbeaten streak, to head into the postseason on a high note. On Saturday night, it was a 38-save shutout for graduate student goaltender Ian Wallace (West Islip, N.Y.) and a goal apiece in the first and second periods for the Ravens, who chalked up a 2-0 victory at Assumption, in Northeast-10 Conference play at Worcester Ice Center.
With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 8-15-2 (5-9-2 NE10), while Assumption falls to 11-12-2 (8-7-1 NE10). The Ravens took the three-game season series, 2-0-1, all of which were played in the last week of the season.
With makeup games on the league schedule for Monday and Wednesday, the NE10 will not announce the postseason bracket until Wednesday evening, but Assumption and Franklin Pierce are already locked into the third and sixth seeds, respectively. As a result, the two are destined for a fourth meeting in a row, on Saturday, Feb. 26 at Worcester Ice Center, in the first round of the NE10 Championship. Game time is to be determined.
Franklin Pierce got the only goal it would need in the middle of the first period on Saturday night. Junior Conor Foley (Nahant, Mass.) and senior Chris Stevenson (Arvada, Colo.) combined to set up the fifth of the year for junior Jason Ladzinski (Norcross, Ga.), at the 8:10 mark.
The game's only other goal came at 15:52 of the second period, as the Franklin Pierce power play struck for the ninth time in the last six games. Foley provided an assist again, the only one this time, as he fed sophomore Cody Rumsey (York, Pa.) for the latter's 10th of the campaign.
Franklin Pierce was outshot on the night, 38-24, but the Ravens had Wallace, while Assumption did not, so the margin proved irrelevant. Wallace (5-7-2) stopped all 38 shots on his net to post his second shutout of the season. With at least one game remaining, Wallace is now just 11 saves behind the program's all-time record of 1940 saves, currently held by Tom McGuckin '18.
At the other end of the ice, graduate student David Altman (8-6-2) finished with 21 saves against 23 shots in a losing effort at the other end of the ice.