WINCHENDON, Mass. (February 22, 2020) – In a playoff atmosphere at the Jason Ritchie Ice Arena on Saturday afternoon, it only took one. The one would come from the stick of freshman forward Jason Ladzinski (Norcross, Ga.) early in the third period, and it sent the Franklin Pierce University men's ice hockey team into the postseason for the first time in seven years. Ladzinski's tally stood as the only goal of the game, as the Ravens posted a 1-0 victory over first-place Assumption on the final day of the Northeast-10 Conference regular season to secure their spot in the NE10 Championship.

With the victory, Franklin Pierce improves to 15-11-4 (8-7-3 NE10), while Assumption falls to 15-8-4 (12-4-2 NE10). With Franklin Pierce as the fourth seed and Assumption as the regular-season champion, the two teams will meet again on Saturday, Feb. 29, at Assumption, in the semifinal round of the NE10 Championship. Game time is still to be announced.

For Franklin Pierce, it marks a return to the postseason for the first time since 2012-13. The 2012-13 team was also the only team in program history to advance to the NE10 title game.

With a big crowd on hand, the Jason Ritchie Ice Arena had a postseason atmosphere from the get-go on Saturday. Things only intensified as the first two periods went scoreless and featured only one power play, which Franklin Pierce came up empty on.

The Ravens failed to capitalize on another power-play chance to start the third, but then cashed in the only goal they would need at even strength at the 5:40 mark. Assumption freshman defenseman Christopher Barone was stripped of the puck behind his own net by Franklin Pierce senior forward Cameron Shepardson (Albany, N.Y.). Shepardson turned and sent the puck to graduate student forward Sam Gagnon (Montreal, Quebec) in the right circle. Gagnon quickly moved the puck over to the left circle for Ladzinski, who was left unattended after the turnover, but had a defender closing behind. Ladzinski was hit as he shot, but managed to get just enough on the puck to watch it slide into the net as he fell to the ice. It was Ladzinski's seventh goal of the season.

Meanwhile, both goalies were able to shine over the course of the contest. For Franklin Pierce, junior Ian Wallace (West Islip, N.Y.) stopped all 21 shots on his goal to pick up the win (9-7-3) and post his first collegiate shutout. At the other end of the ice, senior Robbie Campbell (0-2-0) piled up 36 saves against 37 shots in just his second start of the season, but suffered the loss in the Assumption 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).