Ashley nets first career goal for Ravens

WINCHENDON, Mass. (February 26, 2011) – Senior forward Adam Ziegler scored his second goal of the night 7:06 into overtime on Saturday night to give sixth-seeded Southern New Hampshire a 3-2 victory over the third-seeded Franklin Pierce University ice hockey team in the quarterfinal round of the Northeast-10 Conference Championship at Jason Ritchie Ice Arena. Sophomore forward Nate Ashley (Ogdensburg, N.Y.) scored his first career goal in defeat for the Ravens.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce concludes its season at 8-18-0, while Southern New Hampshire improves to 6-16-2 and advances to the semifinal round.

SNHU opened the scoring with the first period's only goal at the 6:11 mark when Ziegler put home his fourth of the season on a backhander in front of the net. Senior forward Bob Bryant and sophomore forward Craig Carbonneau picked up the assists.

The score would stay 1-0 until Franklin Pierce tied things up with 6:58 to play in the second period. Ashley jammed home his first career goal from right in front of the net after a centering pass from the right side by sophomore forward Adam Dallaire (Waltham, Mass.).

The Ravens struck for their only lead of the contest 5:05 into the third period, when freshman forward Bryan Colella (Medfield, Mass.) stuffed home his eighth goal of the season amidst a skirmish in front of the net. Sophomore forward Roscoe Sweeney (Falmouth, Mass.) and junior forward Pat Shortt (New Haven, Conn.) picked up the assists.

The lead would hold until the final six minutes of regulation. At the 14:40 mark of the third, with senior defenseman J.P. Gasparrini (Medway, Mass.) in the box for boarding, SNHU freshman forward Tyler Pascucci finished off his fifth of the season from the bottom of the left-wing circle to tie the game at 2-2. The goal came off a nice, cross-ice feed from Carbonneau, while Ziegler added the other assist.

Just shy of seven minutes into overtime, SNHU pushed the pace on a rush up the ice that left the Franklin Pierce defense in a state of disarray. Pascucci eventually got the puck to Ziegler in the left-wing circle, and he put home his second of the night at the 7:06 mark to give the Penmen the victory.

Freshman goaltender Dave O'Brien (Groton, Mass.) made 30 saves and took the loss (7-6-0) in net for Franklin Pierce. Freshman Tyler Holske stopped 34 shots to pick up the win (5-9-1) between the pipes for Southern New Hampshire.

Franklin Pierce posted a 36-33 advantage in shots on goal on the night and went 0-for-5 on the power play. Southern New Hampshire finished 1-for-5 with the man-advantage.

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).