WINCHENDON, Mass. (February 6, 2022) – The penalty kill for the Franklin Pierce University men's ice hockey team has struggled to find its footing all season, but things were particularly costly on Sunday at the Jason Ritchie Ice Arena, as part of a rather empty afternoon on the special teams front. The man-down unit conceded three times in six chances, while the power play came up with nothing on seven opportunities of its own, as the Ravens suffered a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Northeast-10 Conference opponent Post.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce watches its record move to 6-12-1 (3-7-1 NE10) while the Eagles of Post improve to 7-13-1 (5-8-1 NE10). The matinee affair wrapped up the three-game season series between the two, with Post holding a 2-0-1 advantage.

Similar to Saturday night, the Eagles took control of the game early and had the majority of the offensive chances in the opening period. At the 10:52 mark, they converted on a two-man advantage to open the scoring. Senior Evan Lugo planted himself in front of the Ravens' net and redirected a shot from Michael Karas into the back of the net. Trey DeLoury recorded the secondary assist on the goal, which was Lugo's fourth of the season.

The second period saw more opportunities go the Ravens way, including a 3-on-2 rush which tied the game just 2:26 into the frame. Senior Anthony Nikolopoulos (Burlington, Mass.) found junior forward Conor Foley (Nahant, Mass.) in the neutral zone. Foley carried the puck over the blue line and towards the left-side faceoff dot. Senior David Cambria (West Bridgewater, Mass.) turned the jets on and moved towards the back door, where Foley hit him with a pass. Cambria squeaked a shot through Post senior netminder Brandon Brown for his fourth of the year, and was then promptly tackled by Foley in celebration behind the net.

Back on the power play in the middle of the period, Post reclaimed the lead at 10:29. Similar to the first goal, junior John Krapian stood in front of the Raven net and redirected a shot from the middle of the blue line by Tommy Buis. Patrick Murphy added the first of his two assists on Krapian's fifth of the campaign.

The two teams traded goals in the third as well. Krapian and the Post power play struck yet again at 10:04 to make it a two-goal game. Sophomore Kieran Gardner took a shot from the top of the blue line, which was saved by Ravens senior goalie Adam Carmen (Vestal, N.Y.), but the rebound found the stick of Krapian, who promptly buried it from the top of the crease.

With the goalie pulled in the final two minutes, Franklin Pierce would get a goal back at 18:35. Foley took a shot from the edge of the right circle which was saved, and freshman Michael Flaherty (Rockland, Mass.) tracked down the rebound to the right of the cage. Flaherty threw it back out front, where junior Jason Ladzinski (Norcross, Ga.) was waiting at the back door to score his fourth goal of the season.

Franklin Pierce held possession for much of the final stages of the game, with the goaltender pulled again, in an effort to force overtime for the second time in as many days. Brown made three saves over the final 70 seconds though, and Post closed out the 3-2 victory.

Carman (2-4-0) made 26 saves on 29 shots in the Franklin Pierce crease in the loss. Brown (7-14-1) stopped 39 of 41 shots to pick up the win for Post.

Next up for the Ravens is a non-conference date with Anna Maria College on Tuesday, Feb. 8. Puck drop is scheduled for 5:40 p.m. at the Horgan Ice Rink in Auburn, Mass.