Chighisola scores twice for Ravens

WINCHENDON, Mass. (December 11, 2010) – Senior forward Reave MacKinnon scored four goals and added an assist to finish with five points on Saturday night to lead Saint Michael's to a 6-4 victory over the Franklin Pierce University ice hockey team in a back-and-forth, Northeast-10 Conference contest at The Winchendon School Ice Arena. Junior forward Anthony Chighisola (Whitman, Mass.) scored twice in a four-goal second period for Franklin Pierce.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 3-9-0 (2-2-0 Northeast-10), while Saint Michael's improves to 4-3-0 (2-0-0 Northeast-10).

Saint Michael's came out strong in the first period and racked up a 21-7 advantage in shots on goal while scoring the only three goals of the stanza. MacKinnon opened the scoring at the 4:16 mark when he took a pass from freshman defenseman Kevin Lampron with a head of steam down the left wing. MacKinnon snapped his fourth goal of the season into the top-left corner. Later, at the 7:53 mark, MacKinnon would add an assist with a feed from behind the goal line to sophomore defenseman Dan Evarts in the right circle. Evarts popped home his second of the season from there, while senior forward Nick Sheehan added an assist as well.

Sophomore forward Alex Davidson would make it 3-0 Purple Knights heading into the first intermission with an unassisted tally with 39 seconds to play in the frame. He forced a turnover in the attacking zone and snapped a shot to the top-left corner from the top of the left circle for his third goal of the season.

The middle stanza would feature a rash of goals, as the two teams combined for five scores while the Ravens rallied to force a 4-4 tie heading into the third. Junior forward Nate Schursky (Scottsdale, Ariz.) started things off 2:01 into the middle stanza when he buried his second of the season from the slot off a pass from fellow junior forward Bill Sullivan (Pittsburgh, Pa.). Just over 11 minutes later, the Ravens would cut the gap to 3-2 with a power-play tally from Chighisola at the 13:10 mark. He walked off the right-wing half-board and snapped home his third of the season while Schursky and Sullivan picked up assists to give each their second point of the night.

After another five minutes without a goal, the teams combined to score three times in the final 1:46 of the second period. MacKinnon restored the two-goal lead for Saint Michael's at 18:14 when he put home a shot from the right-wing circle after junior forward Brady Earle forced a turnover as the Ravens attempted to break out of the zone.

However, just 31 seconds later, Chighisola blocked a shot in the defensive end to spring himself on a breakaway the other way. He deked in front of the net, went to the backhand and slid his second of the night into the back of the cage to pull the Ravens within a goal. Another 25 seconds after that, with the Ravens on the power play, sophomore forward Roscoe Sweeney (Falmouth, Mass.) slipped a pass from the right corner into the slot to freshman forward Bryan Colella (Medfield, Mass.). Colella put home a one-timer to notch his team-leading seventh goal of the season and tie the game at 4-4.

Both teams battened down the hatches for much of the third period. Saint Michael's opened the frame by killing the final 4:51 of a major penalty before Franklin Pierce was forced to kill off two penalties, including 44 seconds worth of two-man disadvantage. After another penalty kill by Saint Michael's in the middle of the stanza, the Purple Knights broke the tie with just 4:48 to play in regulation. MacKinnon finished off his hat trick by banging home a rebound from the bottom of the left circle. Sheehan took the original shot from the high slot to pick up the assist. MacKinnon would cap things off with an empty-net goal from Earle with nine-tenths of a second to play.

Junior goaltender Ben Siok (Holden, Mass.) made 38 saves but was saddled with the loss (0-4-0) in front of the net for Franklin Pierce. Sophomore Mike Dizgun stopped 27 shots to pick up the win (3-2-0) between the pipes for Saint Michael's.

Saint Michael's posted a 44-31 advantage in shots on goal on the night and went 1-for-5 on the power play. Franklin Pierce finished 2-for-4 with the man-advantage.

The game was the final contest of the first semester for the Ravens, who will return to the ice on Tuesday, Jan. 4, when they travel to Saint Anselm for at Northeast-10 Conference contest. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Thomas F. Sullivan Arena in Manchester, N.H. Franklin Pierce next plays at home on Jan. 29 against Stonehill at 7 p.m.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics).