WINCHENDON, Mass. – It was a game that looked to be in the bag for Post University Men's Ice Hockey on Saturday evening against Franklin Pierce. Closing out the road side of their regular season schedule, the Eagles took an early two-goal lead in the third period before letting in three unanswered goals, including a heartbreaker with eight seconds remaining in regulation, to drop their sixth straight game, 5-4, against the Ravens.
THE BASICS
Post University 4, Franklin Pierce University 5
Post University (3-22-1, 2-15-1 NE10)
Franklin Pierce University (11-13-0, 9-9-0 NE10)
HOW IT HAPPENED
For the second straight day, it was the Ravens striking first as freshman forward Nicholas Tessier beat sophomore goalie
Benjamin Cunneen in the first period to give Franklin Pierce a quick 1-0 lead less than three minutes into the contest from sophomore forward Payton Jones and graduate defenseman Josh Kippenhan. Cunneen would make nine first-period saves while freshman goalie Maxymilian Banoun, who was making his second straight start, stopped all 14 shots he faced to open the game.
In the second, the two sides would go back and forth exchanging goals as senior center
Ryan Mosher got the equalizer followed by sophomore forward Devin Rohrich answering back to give the Ravens the lead, 2-1. Netting his second goal of the game and the period, Mosher started a stretch of three unanswered goals for the Eagles as they pulled even once more at two heading into the final period.
Starting quick in the third, junior defenseman
Tanner Glasrud got Post the lead back only 29 seconds in with the help of sophomore forward
Hugh McGuigan and freshman defenseman
Cameron Craig on the power play and only 1:01 later, junior defenseman
Tommy Buis extended that Eagle lead to two goals, 4-2, putting them in prime position to snap their losing streak.
Penalties would come back to haunt Post as senior forward
Brandon Crowther's five-minute boarding penalty resulted in senior forward Trevor Lawler's goal and then a delay of game penalty only mere moments later led to sophomore defenseman Dougals McGuire's game-tying goal at the 7:25 mark of the third. The onslaught of scoring would slow to a halt for the rest of the period until the final 10 seconds when a loose puck found the stick of freshman forward John Sterling and he netted the go-ahead and eventual game-winning goal with only eight seconds left.
In the 5-4 loss, Cunneen finished with 25 saves for Post while Banoun got his second straight win against the Eagles after making 40 saves for Franklin Pierce.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Jack Engdahl has now played in a program record 107 career games following his appearance on Saturday night
- The Post University penalty kill has now allowed a goal in 21 of their 26 games this season and multiple power-play goals in eight games
- For the first time this season, Post University has scored power-play goals in three consecutive games -- The last time they achieved this mark was last season in two games against Saint Anselm and one against Assumption from January 27th to February 4th
- Post University remains winless on the road this season as they fall to 0-14-1 away from the Sports Center of Connecticut – Their last road win came on January 27th, 2023 in a 4-2 victory over Saint Anselm College
WHO'S NEXT
Post University has two more regular season games remaining next weekend when they face Saint Michael's College in a pair of home games at the Sports Center of Connecticut. The two teams will drop the puck on Friday afternoon on the Lower Rink at 4:00 PM. The Eagles have lost six straight against the Purple Knights and earlier this season dropped a pair of road games to them by identical 3-2 scores in overtime.
