WINCHENDON, Mass. (January 31, 2020) -- On Faculty and Staff Appreciation Night at the Jason Ritchie Ice Arena, the Franklin Pierce University men's hockey team looked to end the month of January on a good note, as the Ravens opened a weekend home-and-home series against the Stonehill College Skyhawks. Senior captain Alex Lester (Methuen, Mass.) recorded yet another multi-point effort (1-1-2) -- his eighth of the season -- including a late power-play goal to force overtime, as the two teams played to a 3-3 tie in Northeast-10 Conference play.

The Ravens are now 11-8-3 (5-4-2 NE10) and sit tied with Southern New Hampshire for the league's fourth and final postseason spot. Meanwhile, Stonehill moves to 6-9-4 (3-5-3 NE10) and sits three points out of postseason position. Franklin Pierce holds a 1-0-1 advantage in the three-game season series, which will wrap up on Saturday, with a pivotal game at Stonehill. Opening faceoff is set for 5:10 p.m. at Foxboro Sports Center in Foxborough, Mass.

The first period of the game was a slow one for the Ravens, who gave up 14 shots and fired off only eight of their own. Despite the lopsided period, the Ravens were able to muster a 1-0 lead shortly after the midway point of the frame, at the 12:28 mark, thanks to sophomore forward Chris Stevenson (Arvada, Colo.) and his senior line mates, James Morrissey (West Haven, Conn.) and Lester. Morrissey picked the puck up in the neutral zone and fired a pass to the blue line for Stevenson who carried the puck all the way to goal and slid it by Skyhawks senior goalie Matthew Schoen.

The Ravens top line has scored a combined 36 goals this season, which is nearly half of the Ravens' 76 goals on the season.

The Skyhawks tied the game in the second period, at 7:01, on a goal from freshman forward John Peloso, who was in the right place at the right time in front of the net to tip home his sixth goal of the season. Senior defenseman Michael Seibold got the puck off a pass from junior forward Kyle Woodruff then fired a shot towards the net which was tipped by Peloso.

The Ravens reclaimed the lead just over two minutes later, at 9:13, while on the power play. Sophomore forward Anthony Nikolopoulos (Burlington, Mass.) found the rebound of a shot fired wide by sophomore defensemen Stephen Jacobs (Hingham, Mass.). Nikolopoulos made no mistake and put the puck in the back of the net at the right post to put the Ravens back out front and notch his seventh goal of the season.

The Skyhawks would score the next two goals in quick succession early in the third period. The first came at 4:47 on another tipped shot. This time, senior forward Cameron Wright moved the puck to senior defenseman Zachary Frament on the left point. Frament then shot the puck, which was deflected home by senior forward Ryan Meade at the hash marks to tie the game at 2-2 and pick up his fifth goal of the season.

The Skyhawks moved out front, 3-2, just 33 seconds later, at 5:20. Freshman forward Brendan Nehmer and Peloso were unable to connect on a 2-on-1 rush, but Peloso tracked the loose puck down on the right side and put it back out front for the trailer, sophomore forward Mike Seoane, who tapped in his sixth of the campaign.

Lester would not let his game wind up in the loss column though, as he struck on the power play with under seven minutes to play. Sophomore forward Ryan Gorbett (Cleveland Heights, Ohio) fired a shot from the left circle, which was blocked by the defense. Stevenson got his stick to the rebound and moved it into the right circle for Lester, who ripped a top-shelf shot over the glove of Schoen. The Ravens powerplay would finish 2-for-7 on the night, while the penalty kill was a perfect 5-for-5.

Junior goaltender Ian Wallace (West Islip, N.Y.) stopped 30 of 33 shots against on the way to the tie (6-4-2) in the Franklin Pierce net. Schoen (5-7-3) collected 37 saves against 40 shots at the other end of the ice for Stonehill.

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).