SHELTON, Conn. (February 7, 2020) -- On Friday afternoon, the Franklin Pierce University men's hockey team took to the road for the first leg of a two-game weekend series against Northeast-10 Conference opponent Post University. Sophomore forward Ryan Gorbett (Cleveland Heights, Ohio) salvaged a point for the Ravens, as he netted the game-tying goal with just 98 seconds to play, as the two teams played to a 2-2 tie at Sports Center of Connecticut. Junior goaltender Brandon Brown piled up 50 saves to steal a point for Post, as Franklin Pierce outshot the Eagles, 52-34.

The tie puts the Ravens at a 12-9-4 (5-5-3 NE10) record and leaves them one point out of the NE10's final postseason berth for the moment. Meanwhile, the last-place Eagles move to 5-16-2 (1-13-1 NE10). The two teams will wrap up their three-game season series on Saturday at Sports Center of Connecticut, with a 4 p.m. opening faceoff.

The first period filled with lots of back and forth play, but not much offense on either end, as the two teams combined for 13 shots in the frame. Despite the lack of offense on both sides of the puck, the Eagles were able to jump out front thanks to a goal from freshman forward Jack Engdahl halfway through the period, at the 10:12 mark. Engdahl got a pass from senior defenseman Lucas Smith on a neutral-zone regroup, before walking into the Ravens' zone and firing a shot from the top of the right circle, over the glove of junior goaltender Ian Wallace (West Islip, N.Y.). The goal would be Engdahl's second of the season and enough to give the Eagles an early 1-0 lead.

The Ravens would tie the game in the second period, thanks to a shorthanded goal from sophomore forward Anthony Nikolopoulos (Burlington, Mass.), his eighth of the season. Nikolopoulos was able to put a shot by Brown after receiving the puck from senior teammate Matthew Toombs (Pleasanton, Calif.). Senior defenseman Jonathan Busolin (Goose Creek, S.C.) tacked on an assist on the play as well.

The tie would persist into the middle of the third period. At 13:38, Post was able to take the lead back with a goal from senior Tyler Hackett, as the team's leading scorer notched his 11^th of the season, off an assist from junior forward Evan Lugo. Hackett ranks third in the NE10 in scoring (11-14-25), behind the Franklin Pierce duo of senior forward Alex Lester (Methuen, Mass.) (15-17-32) and sophomore forward Chris Stevenson (Arvada, Colo.) (14-17-31).

The Ravens were able to tie the game back up with under two minutes to go, at 18:22, on a goal from Gorbett. Lester and sophomore defenseman Stephen Jacobs (Hingham, Mass.) provided the helpers on Gorbett's seventh of the season, which would stand as the game-tying goal after the overtime period went scoreless.

Wallace (6-5-3) stopped 32 of 34 shots in the Franklin Pierce net in the tie, while Brown (4-13-2) piled up 50 saves against 52 shots at the other end for Post.

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).