WINCHENDON, Mass. (February 15, 2020) -- Less than 24 hours after a last-minute, 4-3 loss at the hands of intrastate rival Saint Anselm College, the Franklin Pierce University men's ice hockey team found itself in a similar situation on Saturday afternoon. With a 3-2 lead entering the third period for the second day in a row, the Ravens made it stick this time and notched a 4-2 win in Northeast-10 Conference play at Jason Ritchie Ice Arena.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 14-10-4 (7-6-3 NE10) and jumps back over Saint Anselm in the standings, as the Hawks fall to 12-12-2 (7-7-2 NE10). Franklin Pierce is currently tied for third with Stonehill, with four teams ultimately qualifying for the NE10 Championship after regular-season play concludes next weekend. Saint Anselm is in fifth, just one point behind the Ravens and Skyhawks, and Southern New Hampshire is two points in back of Saint Anselm.

The Ravens looked strong to start the game and netted the match's first goal at the 4:37 mark. Freshman forward Conor Foley (Nahant, Mass.) put his team on the board with his first of two goals on the day, off of a rebound at the left side of the net. Sophomore forward Ryan Gorbett (Cleveland Heights, Ohio) had the original shot from the hash marks, while fellow sophomore Anthony Nikolopoulos (Burlington, Mass.) added the secondary assist to start a three-point outing (1-2-3).

The Hawks scored a goal of their own at 16:09 to tie the game at 1-1. Saint Anselm won a neutral zone faceoff just outside of the Ravens' defensive end before gaining entry into the zone. Freshman Chris Lemay carried the puck to the top of the right circle before putting a shot onto junior goaltender Ian Wallace (West Islip, N.Y.), who could not coral the rebound. Freshman forward Kevin Ouellette tapped the puck into the back of the net at the right post for his second goal of the season.

The Ravens would ultimately be outshot 13-5 in the second period, but scored two of the frame's three goals. First, Nikolopoulos received a pass from Cameron Shepardson (Albany, N.Y.) across the blue line to spring him in on a partial breakaway. Nikolopoulos -- who has 4-5-9 over a five-game point streak -- made a move from forehand to backhand before sliding the puck past sophomore goaltender Michal Soustal at 2:24 for his 11^th goal of the season.

The Hawks tied the game once again, at 6:37, as Jack Murphy walked the puck down the boards and sent a pass in front for junior forward Matt Chisholm to put it past Wallace. The one-time finish at the bottom of the right circle gave Chisholm his eighth score of the campaign.

The Ravens were able to reclaim the lead before the end of the second period. On a broken play at 16:56 Soustal was unable to cover the puck up at his left post, as Foley was able to swoop in and push it to the back of the net for his second goal of the game. Senior forward Matthew Toombs (Pleasanton, Calif.) had blindly thrown the puck out front and picked up an assist, while Nikolopoulos added his second helper of the day.

In the same situation as the night before, the Ravens entered the third with a 3-2 lead over the Hawks, but the Ravens stood tall on the defensive end to rewrite the ending of the story. Most of the third went scoreless, but with 6:19 to go in the game the Ravens would strike one more time to gain a two-goal lead and create the 4-2 final. From the right point, junior defenseman Patrick Gagliardi (Bedford, N.H.) sent the puck down low to graduate student forward Sam Gagnon (Montreal, Quebec) below the goal line. Gagnon threw the puck out front and it wound up in the net after Shepardson got a piece of it for his third goal of the season.

Up late, but still with work to do, the Ravens made one last defensive stand after Saint Anselm pulled the goaltender for the extra attacker over the final 1:45. On Saint Anselm's final salvo, senior captain Alex Lester (Methuen, Mass.) blocked a shot from the right point, sent the puck down the ice and yelled in celebration as he headed to the bench with the game all but put away.

Wallace (8-6-3) finished with 30 saves against 32 shots to pick up the win in front of the Franklin Pierce net. Soustal (5-5-0) made just 22 saves against 26 shots in a losing effort in the Saint Anselm crease.

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).