WORCESTER, Mass. (February 29, 2020) – For the second time in as many weeks, a Franklin Pierce University ice hockey team went to overtime in a postseason game on Saturday night. This time, for the men's team, it did not take nearly as long, and the result went the Ravens' way. At 8:25 of the first overtime, sophomore forward Chris Stevenson (Arvada, Colo.) buried a shot from the hash marks off a broken play to lift fourth-seeded Franklin Pierce to a 4-3 victory over top seed Assumption in the semifinal round of the Northeast-10 Conference Championship, in front of a packed house at Buffone Arena.

With the victory, Franklin Pierce improves to 16-11-4, while Assumption sees its season come to an end at 15-9-4. The Ravens will travel to take on third-seeded Stonehill in the title game, after the Skyhawks pulled an overtime upset of their own, 4-3 at Saint Michael's, earlier Saturday. The NE10 final is set for Saturday, March 7, and will be hosted by Stonehill at Warrior Ice Arena in Boston. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 6:40 p.m.

For Stevenson, the overtime winner came as vindication, after the NE10's second-leading scorer (17-19-36) was left off the All-Conference teams by the league's coaches earlier this week. The initial shot on the play came from just inside the blue line on the rush, but was blocked en route by the Assumption defense. However, the puck fell right to the stick of Stevenson in the slot, and he did not miss from there. He quickly put a shot on net from the hash marks and beat Assumption senior goaltender David Zulauf for his 17^th goal of the season. Zulauf was left stunned on one knee in his crease, the puck behind him, as the Ravens spilled off the visitor's bench and mobbed in celebration on the right-wing boards in front of a section full of Franklin Pierce fans.

Earlier in the day, Assumption had staked out a 2-0 lead with a pair of first-period goals, both of which came after Franklin Pierce failed to safely clear its own end. First, freshman forward Colin Philippon found the puck giftwrapped for him behind the net. He stepped towards the left-wing side and sent a pass over to the bottom of the right-wing circle, where sophomore forward Michael Zampanti had an easy, one-time finish for his 12^th goal of the year, at the 4:52 mark. Three minutes later, at 7:52, Philippon would double the lead with his fourth of the year. The first shot on the play went wide from the middle of the blue line, and junior goaltender Ian Wallace (West Islip, N.Y.) turned aside the rebound from the right circle, but Philippon cleaned up the third-chance rebound at the top of the crease.

Trailing by a pair at the first intermission, the Ravens got things moving in the right direction as their captain, senior forward Alex Lester (Methuen, Mass.), found the net just 63 seconds into the second frame. A big hit on the left-wing boards forced a turnover, as the Assumption player who was hit wound up serving the puck to a wide-open Lester inside the blue line. The two-time NE10 Player of the Year had room to work with and picked the top-right corner from the hash marks for his 18^th goal of the season, which established a new program record.

Lester would later get clobbered on a dangerous play behind the Assumption net, which saw a boarding major and game disqualification penalty issued to Assumption freshman defenseman Christopher Barone. Whether or not the incident was the impetus, the Ravens wound up buzzing through the middle of the period. Though they took a penalty of their own which negated part of the boarding major, they were able to strike to level things at 2-2 during the 4-on-4 situation. On a rush up the left-wing side, sophomore defenseman Stephen Jacobs (Hingham, Mass.) put his shot to the far side and sniped the top-right corner at 8:16 for his fifth goal of the season.

After a post, a missed opportunity with Zulauf out of position, and a disallowed goal for Franklin Pierce all in the final seven minutes of the second, it looked like heartbreak could be on the menu, as Assumption reclaimed the lead just 27 seconds into the third period. On the period's initial rush, sophomore forward John Pigott notched his sixth goal of the season as he finished off a rebound at the right post.

Philippon would be sent to the penalty box for interference at 7:01, and it turned out to be the opportunity Franklin Pierce needed to draw level again. On the right-wing side, Jacobs threw what appeared to be a harmless backhand toward the cage, but wound up with his second goal of the night, as the puck eluded Zulauf and wound up in the net at 8:57. Jacobs' sixth of the season set the stage for Stevenson's overtime heroics after the final 11 minutes of regulation went without further scoring.

Wallace (10-7-3) finished with 36 saves, including eight in overtime, against 39 shots to pick up the win in the Franklin Pierce crease. The total included 12 stops on 14 shots in a first period which could have easily ended with the Ravens facing more than the 2-0 deficit.

Zulauf (6-5-1) turned aside all 10 shots he faced in the first period, but struggled thereafter, as he was beaten four times on just 18 Franklin Pierce shots the rest of the way. In all, the senior made 24 saves against 28 shots in his collegiate finale.

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).