Silver's two shorthanded goals prove to be the difference

December 10, 2005
Contact: Daniel O'Reilly
Phone: (802) 654-2929

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. – The Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey team (3-3-2, 2-1 NE-10) defeated Franklin Pierce College (1-6-2, 1-1-1 NE-10) 6-5 in Northeast-10 hockey action on Saturday afternoon at Cairns Arena.

The Ravens saw five different players score goals, and six more earn assists, while senior Dennis Millman (Billerica, Mass./Kimball Union Academy) made 35 saves.

For the Purple Knights, junior Jared Silver (Montreal, Quebec/Tabor Academy) scored two goals, and assisted on three others, and sophomore Tim Dancey (Anaheim, Calif./Berkshire School) scored two goals. Junior Derek Jackson (Clinton, N.Y./Gunnery School) made 27 saves, earning his third victory of the season, and was also credited with an assist on Silver's game winner.

The two teams played a scoreless first period that saw limited scoring opportunities, despite Saint Michael's out shooting their opponent 13-8.

A Franklin Pierce penalty called as time expired in the opening period gave the Purple Knights a power play to start the second. After recording four shots on goal, and also hitting the cross bar, Saint Michael's was finally able to capitalize with 13 seconds remaining on the man advantage, when Silver sent a pass from behind the net to Tim Dancey, who was standing at the top of the goal crease, and put the home team up 1-0. Just over three minutes later, freshman Ryan Mero (Peekskill, N.Y./Avon Old Farms) took a shot on goal, which was initially saved by Millman, but was able to score on the second effort off of assists from Silver and senior co-captain Jonathan Perez (Sherman Oaks, Calif./Berkshire School). At the 7:45 mark, sophomore Erik Caron (Kanata, Ontario/Smith Falls) skated out in front of the net, and rattled off a series of shots that were saved before the team's other senior co-captain, Alex Watts (Cheshire, Conn./Berkshire School), sent a rebound into the back of the net. Shortly after his goal, Watts was called for a major penalty, putting the Purple Knights on the short hand for five minutes. Just under 50 seconds into the penalty, Silver added to his team lead in scoring, sending a shot from just inside the right face-off circle that sailed over Millman's left shoulder. The Ravens got the board with 8:31 remaining in the second, when freshman Jason Kreps (Culver, Indiana/Culver Military Academy) scored a five-on-three goal, taking a shot from Jackson's left side that ricocheted off the cross bar into the net. Still on the power play, Franklin Pierce scored once again 1:18 later when sophomore Peter Wilson (Marshfield, Mass./Marshfield) received a feed from freshman Courson Schneider (New York, N.Y./Avon Old Farms) before taking a shot from just inside the blue line that went through traffic, and found Jackson's five-hole. The Ravens pulled within one at the 13:54 mark, capitalizing on a two-on-one situation when freshman Matt Whitney (Plymouth, B.B./Hartford Junior Wolfpack) sent a centering pass to junior Brad Leighton (Cumberland, Maine/East Coast Rangers) who scored his second goal of the season.

At the 3:11 mark of the final period, Tim Dancey provided some breathing room for Saint Michael's, receiving a pass through traffic from Silver between the two face-off circles, then sending a shot through Millman's pads to make the score 5-3. Franklin Pierce pulled back within one at the 9:40 mark, following a Derek Girouard (Methuen, Mass./Central Catholic) hooking penalty. After his first shot was saved, sophomore Joseph Fields (Lansdale, Penn./Green Mountain Glades) gathered his own rebound to score the five-on-four tally. With the visitors on the power play and looking for the equalizer with 3:28 remaining, Mero spotted Silver streaking towards the net. Finding his way past the Ravens' defense, Silver skated in on the breakaway, beating Millman for his second short handed goal of the contest. That goal proved to be crucial, as the Ravens, still on the power play, scored just 43 seconds later thanks to junior Brian DelSavio's (Orangeburg, N.Y./Pearl River) goal. The Ravens thought they had tied the game with just 34.1 seconds remaining, but that goal was disallowed when the referee whistled the play dead before the shot was taken. Skating the final seconds with an empty net, Franklin Pierce was unable to tally the equalizer as the game wound down.

Saint Michael's is idle for the holidays, and will return to action on December 30^th when they take on Neumann College in the opening round of the Saint Michael's Tournament, being held at Cairns Arena. Franklin Pierce meanwhile, completes the 2005 portion of its schedule with a 7:30 contest at Stonehill College on Monday evening.

For a complete boxscore, click here.