WESTFIELD, Mass. (October 29, 2022) -- The Franklin Pierce University men's ice hockey team stormed out of the gates on Saturday night, in the championship game of the Western Massachusetts Invitational, as the Ravens built a 3-0 lead heading into the first intermission. Co-host Westfield State battled back at Amelia Park Ice Arena though, as the Owls struck twice in the second and tied things with 5:31 to play in regulation. Suddenly facing some early-season adversity, Franklin Pierce showed its resiliency, and the Ravens claimed the tournament title on a goal from senior Vito Carlo (Las Vegas, Nev.) 75 seconds into overtime.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 2-0-0, while Westfield State falls to 1-1-0. Carlo's overtime winner earned him tournament MVP honors, as the Ravens claimed their first regular-season tournament title since the 2019 Steve Hoar Invitational, hosted by Becker.

The Ravens got off on the right foot on Saturday night, as they popped a trio of first-period goals. The opener came at the 5:59 mark, as freshman Douglas McGuire (Elk Grove Village, Ill.) took a shot from the left point through traffic, which deflected off the defense and in for his first collegiate goal. At 12:10, freshman Declan House (Roselle Park, N.J.) notched his first career goal as well, as he took control at his own blue line, carried all the way to the offensive end and scored from the right circle. Some good puck movement made it 3-0 at 17:09, as House found graduate student Chris Stevenson (Arvada, Colo.) down low on the right side, and the latter slipped a centering feed to senior Conor Foley (Nahant, Mass.) for a one-time finish out front and his third of the young season.

Westfield State started to turn the tables in the second period. At 9:28, it was the first of the season for senior Joseph Carbone, as he tracked down a loose puck on the right-wing side and got a little lucky after throwing it towards the net, as it deflected off the defense and in. The Owls popped another just 74 seconds later, at 10:42, when senior Justin Collins cashed in a backhand from the right circle for his first of the campaign.

The Owls completed the comeback with just 5:31 to spare, to tie the game at 3-3 and force overtime. Freshman Ryan O'Halloran gained control on the right side and was able to walk out front and finish his first collegiate goal at 14:29.

It all set the stage for Carlo's heroics in the 3-on-3 overtime. Working their way into the offensive end, Carlo and junior Trevor Lawler (East Bridgewater, Mass.) played give-and-go, with Carlo eventually feeding Lawler up high before cutting to the net. Lawler held for a beat, then took a shot, which gave Carlo enough time to get to the top of the crease and score his first career overtime goal on a deflection at 1:15.

The overtime goal made a winner (2-0-0) out of graduate student goaltender Kyle Martin (Westford, Mass.), who made 40 saves against 43 shots on goal in the Franklin Pierce crease. Junior Valtteri Valtonen (1-1-0) had 38 stops against 42 shots at the other end of the ice for Westfield State.

Franklin Pierce hits the road to open the Northeast-10 Conference portion of its schedule next weekend, with a pair of games at Assumption, on Nov. 4-5. Puck drop is set for 6:50 p.m. on Friday and 6:10 p.m. on Saturday at Worcester Ice Center.