SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. (January 17, 2020) -- It was a wild, goal-filled affair at the Cairns Arena on Friday night, as the Franklin Pierce University men's ice hockey team and the Saint Michael's Purple Knights combined to score 10 goals through regulation, as the two Northeast-10 Conference sides found no trouble scoring. A full 60 minutes would not be enough, and it was in overtime where the Purple Knights pulled off the win, as they scored 3:22 into the extra session for the 6-5 win.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce drops to 10-6-1 (4-2-0 NE10), while Saint Michael's improves to 9-6-1 (5-3-0 NE10). The two teams have now split the first two games of their three-game season series. The rubber match is set for Saturday at 4 p.m. at Cairns Arena.

Things started off well for the Ravens, who struck 6:10 into the game. Senior defenseman Mark Indelicato (Pembroke, Mass.) had played 58 career games without scoring a goal. In his 59^th as a Raven, he would finally find the back of the net. Indelicato's goal was assisted by fellow senior Alex Lester (Methuen, Mass.) right off the draw to give the Ravens a 1-0 lead.

The Purple Knights evened the score up on the power play, thanks to junior defenseman Sel Narby. The junior defenseman wired a shot past Franklin Pierce sophomore goaltender Kyle Martin (Westford, Mass.) for his sixth of the season, tying the game at 1-1.

Saint Michael's would add one more before the first period expired. Martin was able to stop the initial shot from freshman forward Jeremy Routh, but lost his net, which allowed sophomore forward Matt Egan to put home his third of the season into an open cage. The goal gave the Purple Knights a 2-1 lead.

The Ravens evened things up early in the second period. Senior forward James Morrissey (West Haven, Conn.) was able to put home his seventh of the season, tying the game at 2-2 with a shot that beat Purple Knights' senior goaltender Tim Decker high on the right side. Freshman defenseman Mitch Dolese (Mandeville, La.) picked up an assist along with Indelicato, as the Ravens' blue-liners continued to chip in offensively.

It took just 19 seconds for the Purple Knights to retake the lead. Some sloppiness in the Ravens' defensive end saw the puck come free for junior forward Paul McAuliffe, who came down the left side and snapped a shot past the left hand of Martin.

The Ravens showed their resilience as Dolese caught the Purple Knights napping. The Ravens defender sprung senior forward Matthew Toombs (Pleasanton, Calif.) in on a two-on-none rush and the senior dished a pass across to sophomore forward Anthony Nikolopoulos (Burlington, Mass.), who buried it past a stretched-out Decker for his fifth of the season to tie the game at 3-3.

It was chaotic in the third period, as the teams combined to score four times. Morrissey struck for his second of the game and eighth of the season to give the Ravens a 4-3 lead. Just 71 seconds after Morrissey's tally, the Ravens would gain some separation on the power play. Nikolopoulos buried his second of the game, while senior forward Cameron Shepardson (Albany, N.Y.) and freshman forward Jason Ladzinski (Norcross, Ga.) picked up the helpers, as the Ravens took a 5-3 lead.

Trailing by two, the Purple Knights responded fast to get one back. It was Jeremy Routh doing the goal scoring this time around, as he found a soft spot in the slot and rifled a shot past the stick side of Martin, just 1:11 after the Ravens had pushed the lead to two.

With under three minutes to go in regulation, the Purple Knights got the equalizer. Routh picked up his third point of the night, by side-stepping around senior defenseman Johnathan Busolin (Goose Creek, S.C.) before dishing a pass across to junior forward Niall Foster, who was crashing down the right wing. Foster finished off the 2-on-1 and tied the game at 5-5.

In overtime, it was an elbowing penalty that would see Morrissey sit in the box. On the ensuing power play, it was McAuliffe again, who was able to corral a loose puck, turn and fire in the slot, putting the game-winner past Martin and capping off the comeback for the Purple Knights.

Martin (4-3-0) stopped 25 of 31 shots in defeat for Franklin Pierce. His counterpart Decker (6-3-0) was busier on the night, as he faced 38 shots and stopped 33 of them to pick up the win.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (https://www.fpuravens.com). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce ice hockey apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' brand new online store (https://www.shopfpuravens.com).