MANCHESTER, N.H. (1/13/23) – The Franklin Pierce men's hockey team continued their recent struggles against in-state, in-conference rival Saint Anselm College on Friday evening, falling to the Hawks by an authoritative 8-2 final from Sullivan Arena.  

The Ravens recent losing streak stretches to four consecutive games, moving their record to 8-9-0 (5-4-0 NE10) on the season. The Hawks improve to 11-6-1 (7-3-1 NE10) with the home ice victory.

Both of the Raven's goals came at points in the opening frame but were accompanied by a slurry of Saint Anselm strikes. Saint Anselm opened the scoring less than seven minutes in, as Will Christensen hopped on a rebound and buried it past Raven netminder Brogan McDonald (Gorham, Maine) for the 1-0 lead. Just under four minutes later, the Hawks found their second tally courtesy of Andrew Andary, who sent a clean wrister through traffic in front for the Saint Anselm 2-0 lead. However, the Ravens eventually found daylight on the evening's first man advantage as graduate forward Anthony Nikolopoulis (Burlington, Mass.) cashed in on a one-timer from the slot, notching his fourth goal of the season from Matt Horan (Methuen, Mass.) and Declan House (Roselle Park, N.J.).

The final minute of the first period saw two goals scored, one from each team, with the first belonging to Saint Anselm's Garrett Alberti, putting them ahead 3-1. Shortly thereafter, Pierce responded on freshman Devin Rohrich's (Pittsburgh, Penn.) fifth goal of the season off a doorstep redirect, sending the Ravens to the locker rooms trailing 3-2.  

From then onward, it was all Saint Anselm. The Hawks matched their three-goal first period performance with another trio in the second, two of which belonged to forwards Andrew Andary and Will Christensen. The only new name on the scoresheet arrived at 5:51 of the frame, where Saint Anselm jumped ahead 4-1 on a goal by Tommy Schwartz. With the other two goal scorers collecting their dues later down the stretch, the Hawks eventually pulled ahead 6-2 entering the final period of play.

Frustrations began to mount for the Ravens early in the third period. An early cross-checking penalty just 00:35 seconds in cost Pierce a bid at pulling back into the contest, as Saint Anselm's Mark Leach extended the host advantage to 7-2.  With 9:31 left to play, the Hawks put the game on ice officially with their eighth goal from Leonard Brochu III, sending Pierce home with the lopsided loss.

Starting netminder Brogan McDonald played through the full 60 minute effort for Pierce, carrying the loss after making 26 saves on 34 shots faced. Hawks' Nick Howard also played the full contest, turning away 32-of-34 shots faced for his tenth win of the season. Both teams matched each other in total shots, with each registering 34 per side.

Men's Hockey returns home to Jason Ritchie Arena tomorrow (1/14) afternoon for a Saturday matinee with non-conference opponent SUNY Brockport (5-9-0) at 1:00 p.m.