WORCESTER, Mass. (November 5, 2022) -- The Franklin Pierce Men's Ice Hockey team suffered its first loss of the season on Saturday night, at the Worcester Ice Center. Assumption poured in four third-period goals to rally for a 7-4 victory and force a split of the weekend Northeast-10 Conference series. Senior Sean O'Connell and graduate student Michael Zampanti scored twice each for the home team in the victory.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 3-1-0 (1-1-0 NE10), while Assumption improves to 2-2-0 (1-1-0 NE10). Assumption will make the return trip to Franklin Pierce for two games after the semester break, on Jan. 27-28.

The scoring started early for the Ravens, 7:52 into the first period, when graduate student Chris Stevenson (Arvada, Colo.) and senior Conor Foley (Nahant, Mass.) passed the puck up to senior Jason Ladzinski (Norcross, Ga.), who put it into the back of the net to give the Ravens an early lead. Just under four minutes later, at 11:41, with the Ravens on the power play, junior Trevor Lawler (East Bridgewater, Mass.) setup senior Vito Carlo (Las Vegas, Nev.) for the original shot and graduate student Anthony Nikolopoulos (Burlington, Mass.) cleaned up the rebound to make it 2-0.

The scoring would be on pause until the second period, when the Greyhounds notched three goals in 8:13 to take the lead early near the midpoint of the game. Zampanti had a goal and an assist in the middle frame alone.

The Ravens would counter at 12:35 to level things at 3-3, as sophomore Michael Flaherty (Rockland, Mass.) had a deflection goal out front, as he tipped home the shot of Carlo from the right point. The Ravens would reclaim the lead in the final minute of the frame, as a rush up the ice was capped by a slick setup from Stevenson on the left wing to Foley in front of the net.

The third period went south fast for the Ravens as the Greyhounds struck at 3:03 and on the very next shift at 3:17, to claim the lead for good. The first came on the power play via graduate student Mike D'Ambrosio, while O'Connell netted the eventual game-winner. Zampanti added an insurance marker at 6:30, and a breakaway against the empty net allowed O'Connell to cap the night at 19:34 and create the 7-4 final.

Graduate student Kyle Martin (Westford, Mass.) got the start in net for the Ravens and made 39 saves against 45 shots while suffering the loss (3-1-0). Fellow graduate student Drew Benedict (2-1-0) recorded 37 saves against 41 on the night for Assumption in the win.  

The Ravens' next game is Friday, Nov. 11, at home versus Saint Michael's, starting at 7 p.m. The two teams will also meet on Saturday at 1 p.m.