WINCHENDON, Mass. (December 14, 2021) -- Things started slow on Tuesday night at the Jason Ritchie Ice Arena, as the Franklin Pierce University men's ice hockey team locked horns with Saint Anselm in the first-half finale for both sides. Things did not finish slow. The two sides combined for eight goals, and a proportional amount of sheer chaos, over the final two periods. A 5-on-3 goal by sophomore Cody Rumsey (York, Pa.) put the Ravens ahead to stay, and a pair of empty-net tallies by junior Conor Foley (Nahant, Mass.) sealed the deal, as Franklin Pierce headed into the holiday break with an important, 5-3, Northeast-10 Conference victory.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 4-8-0 (1-4-0 NE10), while Saint Anselm falls to 4-5-1 (1-2-1 NE10). The two teams will close out their season series with a pair at Saint Anselm on Feb. 11-12, the penultimate weekend of the campaign.

The first period was on the sleepy side, though Saint Anselm generated a 13-2 edge in shots on goal. Graduate student goaltender Ian Wallace (West Islip, N.Y.) chalked up 13 saves in the first period and nine more in the second to keep the Ravens in the game long enough for the offense to come around.

The two teams would trade pairs of goals in the second. Saint Anselm finally broke the ice on the rush at the 4:04 mark, as junior Matt Hayes centered from the left side for senior Kilian Hammersmith, who crashed the net for his third of the season. Franklin Pierce evened things on the power play at 12:27, as senior David Cambria (West Bridgewater, Mass.) blasted a one-timer through traffic from the middle of the blue line for his second of the campaign.

The tie was short-lived, as Saint Anselm reclaimed the lead just 43 seconds later, when freshman Luke Mix made a nifty move to the slot and put home a backhand at 13:10 for his first collegiate goal. Two minutes later, at 15:10, Franklin Pierce levelled things ahead of the intermission, as Foley centered from behind the net for senior Chris Stevenson (Arvada, Colo.), who banged home his second of the year.

Franklin Pierce turned up the heat in the third period, to the tune of a 16-6 advantage in shots, and the game came a little unhinged along the way. After the opening 40 minutes featured only three combined penalties, the final stanza had all of the following: a pair of too-many-players-on-the-ice penalties, a five-minute charging major, a penalty shot, a shouting match between Stevenson and Hayes in the penalty boxes after matching minors, and a 10-minute misconduct. As for the goals, the final frame featured four of them, in order: a 5-on-3 marker, a shorthanded empty-net tally, a power-play extra-attacker score, and another empty-net strike. The only thing missing from the proceedings, frankly, was the partridge in a pear tree.

Before the pucks started finding the net, Wallace had to keep the game tied at the eight-minute mark, after Cambria hooked Hayes on a shorthanded breakaway, which resulted in a penalty shot. Hayes slowed as he approached the net on the attempt and deked his way to the right, but Wallace stymied the backhand shot with his left pad.

In all, Saint Anselm was whistled for six penalties in the third period, and a 5-on-3 after the midpoint of the stanza would be what ultimately did the Hawks in, as the Ravens cashed in a tic-tac-toe passing play at 13:36. From up high, junior Tyler Rudek (Woonsocket, R.I.) sent the puck to the bottom of the right circle for senior Ryan Gorbett (Cleveland Heights, Ohio). Gorbett quickly fired the puck across the top of the crease to Rumsey, who had the backdoor finish on his fourth goal in two games.

Saint Anselm got a late power play and pulled the goaltender to create a 6-on-4 advantage in search of the tying goal. It would be Foley who found the net though, as he forced a turnover at his own blue line and went the other way on a shorthanded breakaway against the vacant net. Foley finished with a slap shot from the top of the crease at 18:54, which drew the ire of the Hawks, including senior Anthony Iacullo, who earned a misconduct for firing the puck back at Foley after it came out of the net.

The Hawks made it interesting again by converting on the power play 25 seconds later, at 19:19, after pulling the goalie again, to make it a 4-3 game. Hayes had the original shot from the right circle, and senior Kevin Ouellette popped home the rebound at the left post for his third of the season.

Saint Anselm got the goaltender off again in the final 30 seconds, but Foley would finally put the game on ice for the Ravens. This time, he took possession just outside the offensive blue line and quickly salted away his second of the night at 19:48, to create the 5-3 final.

Wallace (1-5-0), who sports a .911 save percentage, finally picked up his first win in what has been a hard-luck season thus far, as he finished with 27 saves against 30 shots. Junior Nick Howard (4-5-1) made 26 saves against 29 shots at the opposite end for Saint Anselm.

The Ravens will be back in action between Christmas and New Year's, as they participate in the Codfish Bowl at UMass Boston. Franklin Pierce will open play on Wednesday, Dec. 29 at 4 p.m. against Post.