WORCESTER, Mass. (February 21, 2020) -- To kick off the final weekend of the regular season, the Franklin Pierce University men's ice hockey team took to the road for the first leg of a home-and-home series against the Assumption University, which occupies first place in the Northeast-10 Conference. For the Ravens, their postseason hopes will come down to the final day of the season, as they suffered a 4-1 loss to the Greyhounds at Buffone Arena.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 14-11-4 (7-7-3 NE10), while Assumption improves to 15-7-4 (12-3-2 NE10) and locks up the league's regular-season title. The two teams will meet at Franklin Pierce on Saturday, and for the Ravens, a win will clinch the team's first postseason berth in seven years. Meanwhile, a loss would see the team's season come to an end, while a tie would turn them into scoreboard watchers for Saturday night's Southern New Hampshire vs. Saint Anselm game. The two teams are tied for fifth, just one point behind the Ravens. Franklin Pierce holds the tiebreaker against Saint Anselm, but would lose the tiebreaker with SNHU and would not be the top team in a three-way tiebreaker. Opening faceoff for the Ravens and Greyhounds is 4 p.m. Saturday at Jason Ritchie Ice Arena. SNHU and Saint Anselm will meet at SNHU for a 7:20 p.m. puck drop.

Assumption scored first at 6:09 of the first period. Sophomore forward Robert Holyoke dumped the puck below the goal line for sophomore line mate Michael Zampanti, who centered the puck in the slot for the goal scorer, fellow sophomore forward Dante Maribito. The goal was Maribito's 14^th of the season.

Maribito's goal would be the only in the first period, but the Ravens would tie the game halfway through the second period, on a goal from senior defenseman Mark Indelicato (Pembroke, Mass.). After sophomore forwards Ryan Gorbett (Cleveland Heights, Ohio) and Anthony Nikolopoulos (Burlington, Mass.) worked to secure possession down low, the puck wound up at the right point for Indelicato. He put a long shot through traffic from there, which appeared to deflect off the Assumption defense and wound up in the back of the net for his second goal of the year, at 10:06. For Nikolopoulos, the assist extended his point-scoring streak to six games, during which he has tallied 10 points (4-6-10).

The game would remain tied for most of the remaining time in the second period, but the Greyhounds were able to strike again, at 18:24, to take the lead heading into the final period. Franklin Pierce tried to enter the offensive zone, but was stopped, as senior forward Brendan Philippon took the puck and left it for his brother, freshman forward Colin Philippon. Colin Philippon then moved the puck across the neutral zone for sophomore defenseman Jared Bernis, who walked across the blue line and put a shot past the pad of junior goaltender Ian Wallace (West Islip, N.Y.) for his first of the campaign.

The third period was scoreless until the final two minutes of the period when head coach Sean Millerick took the risk of pulling his goalie twice in search of a late offensive spark. Instead, it would lead only to a pair of empty-net goals for Assumption to create the 4-1 final. Maribito scored the first empty-netter for his second goal of the game, while Holyoke added a goal to go with his earlier assist.

Wallace (8-7-3) suffered the loss for the Ravens after making 33 saves while facing 35 shots. On the other end of the ice, senior David Zulauf (6-4-1) earned the win while allowing only one goal on the 42 shots he faced.

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).