WINCHENDON, Mass. -- While it may not have an effect on the seeding for next week's Northeast-10 Tournament, which gets underway on Tuesday, it was still a game that Post University Men's Ice Hockey needed to have to get some positive momentum following their 5-1 loss on Senior Day to Franklin Pierce University. Propelled by freshmen forward Max Beaulac and junior forward Baxter Kimball, who had his second goal in as many days, the Eagles ended the regular season on a high note with a 2-1 win on Saturday evening against the Ravens on the road.

Post finishes the regular season with an 11-15-0 record, tying the program record for most single-season wins with the 2021-22 team while earning the fifth seed in next week's conference tournament after closing conference play with 27 points and a 9-11-0 record. The Eagles finished just one point back of Assumption University, who was swept by Saint Michael's College this weekend, placing fourth in the conference, meaning for the third time in the last two weeks, Post and the Greyhounds will square off up in Worcester, Massachusetts on Tuesday. 

THE BASICS

Post University 2, Franklin Pierce University 1

Post University (11-15-0, 9-11-0 NE10)

Franklin Pierce University (2-24-2, 2-17-1 NE10)

HOW IT HAPPENED
A penalty-laden game saw the Eagles go on the man-up advantage eight times throughout the 60-minute bout, including four times in the second period alone, which is where they would score their first goal of the game. However, before they got there, it would be a similar first period to a day ago for Post as they outshot Franklin Pierce by a slight 9-6 margin while going 0-for-2 on their power-play attempts. 

Junior goalie Benjamin Cunneen, who entered the day vying for his 10th win in net this season for the Eagles, which would tie him with Brandon Brown for the most single-season wins set back during the 2021-22 season, made six stops in the first 20 minutes as part of his 25-save day. Cunneen would allow just one goal in the affair to freshman forward Mario Paganini, which tied the game up with 4:40 left in the second frame.

Before Paganini's game-tying goal, Kimball scored the first goal of the evening for the Eagles as a loose puck in front of the crease found his stick to the right side of sophomore goalie Riley Mastowski, who got the start in net for the Ravens. Kimball would bury the shot on the power play for the only power-play goal of the day in eight attempts for Post with just over 14 minutes left.

Deadlocked at one all heading into the final period of the regular season, Beaulac would play the hero as another loose puck in front of Mastowski was picked up by the freshman and rifled into the back of the net only 2 1/2 minutes into the third. As time wound down in regulation, Mastowski would be pulled from the goal after making 37 saves today, and junior forward Jacob Howell's three-quarters of the ice shot from his own blue line would barely miss going in, hitting the post, and bouncing out with 46 seconds left. 

Howell's shot was initially ruled to be a goal by the referee before being overturned before one final shot by sophomore defenseman Todd Branish was corralled by Cunneen with time winding down in what would be a 2-1 win for Post to close out the regular season in the win column ahead of next week's tournament. 

BY THE NUMBERS  

• After not scoring in his first 14 collegiate games, Max Beaulac made it two straight games with a goal, scoring the game-winning goal for Post University today after registering his first collegiate goal for the Eagles in yesterday's loss 
• Benjamin Cunneen has tied the single-season record for most wins with his 10th of the season in today's game after making 25 saves on 26 attempts by Franklin Pierce University -- Cunneen ties the record with Brandon Brown, who had 10 wins during the 2021-22 season for Post University 
• Appearing in today's game, Tommy Buis has tied the record for most games played in a career at 109 games alongside his former teammate Jack Engdahl -- Buis will break the record on Tuesday as long as he takes the ice in Post University's Northeast-10 Tournament Quarterfinals matchup 
• Heading into the playoffs with 11 wins on the year, Post University has tied the record for the most single-season wins with the 2021-22 team, which made the Northeast-10 Tournament Championship and amassed 11 wins throughout their campaign 

WHO'S NEXT
As the fifth seed in the Northeast-10 Tournament, Post University will travel on the road this Tuesday to take on Assumption University, who will be the fourth seed in the tournament after dropping both of their games to Saint Michael's College this weekend. The Eagles won their first three matchups of the season against the Greyhounds before falling in the most recent one on the road, 3-1.