WINCHENDON, Mass. (February 1, 2022) -- The Franklin Pierce University men's ice hockey team went 1-for-4 with the man-advantage on Tuesday afternoon, but the power-play unit was outscored while it was on the ice over the course of the contest. The Ravens surrendered a pair of shorthanded goals, and the penalty kill conceded a score as well for good measure, as Franklin Pierce was outscored 3-1 on the special-teams front alone. Visiting Saint Michael's posted an advantage at even strength as well, and the Ravens were dealt an 8-3 loss in Northeast-10 Conference play at Jason Ritchie Ice Arena. Sophomore Zach Taylor and senior Matt Egan both had hat tricks in the victory for the Purple Knights.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 6-11-0 (3-6-0 NE10), while Saint Michael's improves to 4-11-0 (4-7-0 NE10). Saint Michael's has taken both of the meetings between the two teams so far this season. Tuesday's matinee was a makeup date for a contest postponed on Jan. 15. The teams have one other outstanding game from the same January weekend, but it remains to be seen if their mutual schedules will allow for that one to me made up as well.

Saint Michael's opened the scoring just 4:46 into the proceedings. Junior Owen Rudicus forced a turnover behind the net, and junior Connor Redden took possession in the right-wing corner. Redden fed the puck into the right circle for senior Thomas Flack, who had his initial shot stopped, but put away his own rebound for his fourth goal of the season.

The first period featured a lengthy, 20-minute delay at the 8:25 mark, as Franklin Pierce had to watch one of its own taken away on a stretcher -- largely for precautionary measures -- after a hard, but legal, hit in the offensive end. One could hardly blame the Ravens if hockey was not at the front of their minds as the game resumed. Ultimately, Saint Michael's was able to strike twice in a span of 2:14 shortly after the interruption in play, to seize control of the contest.

First, junior Matt Schreiner was able to chase down a long clear attempt and push towards the net, though graduate student goaltender Ian Wallace (West Islip, N.Y.) stymied his initial attempt. However, the initial save left Wallace out of position, which allowed Schreiner to slip the puck back out front to Egan for an easy finish on the latter's second of the year at 10:08. The Purple Knights then added a shorthanded tally at 12:22, after Taylor partially blocked a shot in his own end. Seniors Sel Narby and Tyler Dorval were able to corral the puck and immediately spring Taylor the other way on a breakaway. Taylor deked his way to the left post for the finish on his second of the campaign.

Franklin Pierce got on the board at the 16:20 mark, as senior David Cambria (West Bridgewater, Mass.) drew a defender in the neutral zone and shuffled the puck off to junior Vito Carlo (Las Vegas, Nev.), who was the headman of a 2-on-1 into the offensive end. Carlo got a pass across to sophomore Cody Rumsey (York, Pa.), who buried a one-timer from the edge of the left circle for his seventh of the year. Saint Michael's needed just 69 seconds to answer though, as Schreiner put home his third of the year on a rebound at 17:29 to give the Purple Knights a 4-1 lead into the first intermission.

The two teams traded goals in the second. At 9:49, junior Jackson Dobek (Natick, Mass.) finished a rebound at the left post for his third of the year. At 14:59, Saint Michael's notched its second shorthanded goal of the day, as Egan bullied his way into a turnover inside the Franklin Pierce blue line and then rifled the puck over Wallace's blocker shoulder.

The Ravens cashed in a power-play goal 78 seconds into the third to make it a 5-3 game. Rumsey forced a turnover in the offensive end and sophomore Trevor Lawler (East Bridgewater, Mass.) had the finish below the hash marks for his second of the year.

It was as close as Franklin Pierce would get though, as Saint Michael's popped the final three goals to turn things into a rout. Taylor beat multiple players on his way to the net on a highlight-reel goal at 6:28 and then finished his hat trick off with a rebound goal on a 4-on-3 advantage at 9:55. Egan followed and capped his own hat-trick effort with a one-time finish on a 2-on-0 down low at 13:17.

Wallace (3-6-0) exited after the final goal of the night and suffered the loss, finishing with 21 saves against 29 shots in 53:17 of work. Senior Adam Carman (Vestal, N.Y.) came on and stopped all six shots he faced over the final 6:43. At the other end of the ice, sophomore Marshall Murphy (3-5-0) stopped 28 of 31 shots in the victory.

The Ravens are scheduled to host Post in an NE10 weekend series on Friday and Saturday. Weather permitting, the two teams will square off at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and 7 p.m. on Saturday, at Jason Ritchie Ice Arena.