HOOKSETT, N.H. (January 24, 2022) -- The Franklin Pierce University men's ice hockey team attempted to mount a late comeback on Monday night, as senior forward Chris Stevenson (Arvada, Colo.) scored twice in the final three minutes at Ice Den Arena. In the end though, four goals against in the second period would prove too big a mountain to climb, as the Ravens suffered a 5-4, Northeast-10 Conference loss on the road at Southern New Hampshire. Stevenson added an assist to make it a three-point night and a seven-point weekend (3-4-7) against the Penmen.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 5-10-0 (2-5-0 NE10), while SNHU improves to 10-4-0 (9-1-0 NE10) and took two wins out of the three-game season series between the two sides.

Coming off a wild, 7-5 win on Saturday evening, Franklin Pierce got the party started early on Monday. In the first minute of play, graduate student Paul Antkowiak (Salem, N.H.) threw the puck towards the net from the left point. It got knocked down en route, but settled on the stick of senior Ryan Gorbett (Cleveland Heights, Ohio), who put home a backhand shot in the slot for his seventh goal of the season at the 46-second mark.

The Gorbett tally would be the only score of the first period, and then SNHU went to work in the second. The Penmen drew even at 1:51, after they narrowly beat out an icing call, which eventually allowed senior Andy Somerville and junior Ryan Coady to set up junior Matt Monreal in the slot for the latter's first of the campaign. A power-play marker at 5:23 put SNHU out front to stay, as senior Jake Cox fired a pass across the slot and found senior Alex Ring in the left circle for a one-time finish and his third goal of the year.

The Penmen pushed the lead out to 3-1 at 16:16, when freshman Ethan Rodriguez buried a one-timer from the slot for his second of the season. Franklin Pierce trimmed the deficit back to 3-2 just 2:07 later, with some slick puck movement on the power play. On the right side, sophomore Trevor Lawler (East Bridgewater, Mass.) worked the puck down low to Stevenson, who then pumped it back out front for sophomore Cody Rumsey (York, Pa.), who banged home his sixth of the year at 18:23.

It looked like Franklin Pierce would head into the third trailing by just a goal, but the Ravens could not quite close the door on the second stanza. SNHU reclaimed a two-goal lead with just 4.8 seconds remaining in the frame, as junior George Thurston threw the puck out front from the right-wing side and Cox was able to steer it home for his seventh of the season.

Much of the third period went without further scoring, but SNHU chalked up an important insurance marker at 16:31, just after a Franklin Pierce power play went by the boards. Freshman Jack Gray knocked home a rebound out front for his sixth of the year.

The Ravens tried to mount a late comeback, but it would be too little too late. At 17:39, Stevenson had the finish on a rebound right out front to make it a 5-3 game with his fourth of the year. Franklin Pierce then got a late power play, called its timeout at 18:30 and needed just seven seconds to convert, as a juicy rebound in the right-wing circle led to Stevenson's second goal in a span of 58 seconds. Time was already running short, but a neutral-zone hooking penalty by junior Conor Foley (Nahant, Mass.) put to bed any thoughts of completing the comeback, as SNHU held on for the 5-4 victory.

Senior Kyle Martin (Westford, Mass.) finished with 24 saves against 29 shots and suffered the loss (1-4-0) in front of the Franklin Pierce net. Senior JT Kossakowski (4-3-0) stopped 33 of 37 at the other end of the ice to pick up the win.

Weather permitting, the Ravens are scheduled to be back in action with a home-and-home against Stonehill over the weekend. Franklin Pierce will travel to Stonehill for a 7 p.m. faceoff on Friday and then host the Skyhawks on Saturday, for a 7:30 p.m. puck drop.