Ravens Drop Close Battle with Saint Michael’s, 3-2

 Recap by student-staff writer Colin Struckman 

WINCHENDON, Mass. (11/23/24) – Despite a solid all-around effort for the Franklin Pierce Ravens men's hockey team, they came up short against the Saint Michael's Purple Knights on Friday night, falling by a score of 3-2 in Northeast-10 play.  

Score: Saint Michael's 3, Franklin Pierce 2 

Records: Franklin Pierce (0-9-0, 0-5-0 NE-10), Saint Michael's (6-2-0, 4-2-0 NE-10) 

Location: Jason Ritchie Ice Arena, Winchendon, M.A.  

Date: Saturday, November 22, 2024 

 HOW IT HAPPENED: 

• The first period proved to be a scoreless tie between the Ravens and Purple Knights. Despite the Purple Knights outshooting the Ravens 10-3, they couldn't beat sophomore netminder Riley Mastowski (Jamestown, Pa.).  

• The Purple Knights wasted no time getting on the scoresheet to open the second period, striking first 1:04 into the frame. Kyle Lee fired a shot on net and Roman Winicki tucked in the rebound, giving the Purple Knights the 1-0 lead.  

• Just 34 seconds later, the Purple Knights padded their lead. David Ciancio strided toward the middle of the slot and fired a backhander past Riley Mastowski for the 2-0 lead.  

• The Ravens countered 11:20 into the period to cut the deficit in half. Senior defenseman Wyatt De Lise (York, Maine) dished a pass along the boards to freshman forward Giovanni Ursillo (Boise, Idaho) who stripped the puck from a defender in the neutral zone and fed a pass to junior forward Ike Frankel (San Diego, Calif.) who deked to his backhand and tucked it in the back of the cage. Frankel's goal made it a 2-1 Purple Knights lead.  

• The momentum carried on for the end of the second period for the Ravens. They tied the score 2-2 with just 1.9 seconds remaining in the period. Graduate defenseman Dimitris Christou (Skaneateles, N.Y.) pinched at the blue line and kept it in the attacking zone, then fired a shot toward the goal and freshman forward Trent King (Malone, N.Y.) deflected the shot into the goal.  

• Despite the miraculous end to the second period, the Purple Knights came out with a vengeance to begin the third period. David Ciancio added his second goal of the night as he ripped a shot from the top of the blue line to give the Purple Knights the 3-2 lead, a lead they would not relinquish for the remainder of the game. 

 BREAKING DOWN THE NUMBERS: 

• The Purple Knights outshot the Ravens 27-23.  

• Riley Mastowski suffered the loss in net for the Ravens, making 24 saves.  

• Both teams went scoreless on the power play with the Ravens going 0-4 and the Purple Knights going 0-2. 

NEXT UP FOR THE RAVENS:  

The Ravens aim to salvage a split against the Purple Knights tomorrow afternoon (11/23). Puck drop is at 2:50 p.m.