Chighisola, Sweeney each tally three points

Box Score

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (November 24, 2009) – Four members of the Franklin Pierce University ice hockey team tallied multiple points on Tuesday night as the team erased a 4-3, third-period deficit and rallied past Western New England for a 6-5 victory in non-conference play at Smead Arena. Senior forward Casey Goodell (Rochester, N.H.) scored the game-winner for Franklin Pierce with 6:35 to play in regulation. Sophomore forward Kory Grahl scored two goals and added an assist for Western New England in defeat.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 3-4-2 (1-0-1 Northeast-10), while Western New England falls to 0-6-1 (0-2-0 ECAC Northeast) with the loss.

Franklin Pierce picked up both goals in the opening frame to take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission. At the 7:42 mark, freshman forward Michael Carr (South Boston, Mass.) picked up his third goal of the season, with the assist going to Sweeney. Later, sophomore forward Anthony Chighisola (Whitman, Mass.) doubled the Raven lead on the power play with 2:12 to play in the period. Freshman forward Jonathan Schanke (Wallingford, Conn.) and sophomore forward Justin Adams (Homer, Alaska) picked up the assists on Chighisola's team-leading ninth goal of the season.

In the middle stanza, Western New England jumped on the board with an early power-play goal, as sophomore forward Mike Kaselouskas notched his third of the season just 2:36 into the period, while graduate student defenseman Chris Gillman and freshman forward Nico Santaniello picked up the assists. Franklin Pierce would answer at the 6:00 mark on Carr's second of the game, off assists from Chighisola and Sweeney. Western New England cut the lead to one goal against with just 1:41 to play in the period. Sophomore forward Rory Hansen found the net for his fourth of the season with assists from Grahl and sophomore defenseman Spencer Shumway.

The fireworks came in the third period, as the teams split six goals to eventually create the 6-5 final. Grahl opened the period with his second and third goals of the season, at the 3:56 and 6:58 marks, respectively, with the latter coming on the power play to give Western New England a 4-3 lead. Freshman defenseman Wesley Russell (Marlboro, Mass.) brought the Ravens back even with a power-play goal of his own off a feed from senior forward Phil LaBreck (Thornton, N.H.) at the 9:56 mark.

The tie would be short-lived, as the Ravens reclaimed the lead just 61 seconds later when LaBreck potted his third of the season on an assist from Chighisola. Less than three minutes after the LaBreck goal, Goodell gave the Ravens an insurance tally with his first of the season. Sweeney picked up another assist on the power-play goal that would prove important as Western New England struck with 4:02 remaining in the period to pull within a goal. Shumway scored the unassisted goal for his first of the year, but the Bears could not find the tying goal over the remainder of the contest.

Senior goaltender Jon Tuttle (Concord, N.H.) made 26 saves on the evening to earn the win (2-0-0) in front of the net for Franklin Pierce. Junior goaltender Justin Richards stopped 30 shots, but took the loss (0-6-1) between the pipes for Western New England.

Franklin Pierce held a 36-31 edge in shots on goal in the game, and went 3-for-8 on the power play. Western New England finished 2-for-9 with the man-advantage.

The Ravens return to the ice on Saturday, Dec. 5, when they travel to Assumption for a Northeast-10 Conference contest. Faceoff is scheduled for 4:35 p.m. at Buffone Rink in Worcester, Mass. Franklin Pierce next plays at home on Wednesday, Dec. 9 against Nichols at 7 p.m.