February 25, 2006                                                                           
Contact: Daniel O'Reilly
Phone: (802) 654-2929

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. – The Saint Michael's College men's ice hockey team (9-13-4, 3-2 NE-10) defeated Franklin Pierce College, (1-19-4, 1-4 NE-10), 8-5, in the opening round of the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament on Saturday afternoon at Cairns Arena.
           
For the Ravens, senior Jason Pierce (Maynard, Mass./Nashoba Regional) netted a pair of goals, and sophomore Ben Reynolds (Wallingford, Pa./Green Mountain Glades) scored and added two assists, while junior Steve Moore (Londonderry, N.H./American International) stopped 29 shots in goal.
           
For the Purple Knights, sophomore Tim Dancey (Anaheim, Calif./Berkshire School) and freshman Chris Healey (Salem, N.H./N.H. Jr. Monarchs) each scored a pair of goals and added assists, while senior Alex Watts (Cheshire, Conn./Berkshire School) earned four helpers. Junior Derek Jackson (Clinton, N.Y./Gunnery School) made 21 saves between the pipes.
             
Saint Michael's opened the scoring just under seven minutes into the game, when a shot ricocheted off the outside post to senior Jonathan Perez (Sherman Oaks, Calif./Berkshire School), who put the home team on top. Pierce answered for the Ravens at the 9:23 mark, scoring a power play goal with help from senior Mark Gibbons (Quincy, Mass./Archbishop Williams). With 9:19 remaining in the opening period, junior Jared Silver (Montreal, Quebec/Tabor Academy) received feeds from Watts and senior Nick Dancey (Anaheim, Calif./American International), and skated in front of the net before taking an off-balanced shot off the crossbar that found the back of the net. Saint Michael's then went on to score four unanswered goals, capped by sophomore Erik Caron's (Kanata, Ontario/Smith Falls) shorthanded breakaway tally 11:34 into the second period, which proved to be the game winner.
           
Pierce scored his second power play goal of the contest with 7:40 remaining in the second frame, pulling the visitors back within four. Healey closed out the period's scoring with 53 seconds remaining, earning the team's second consecutive shorthanded goal, and 12^th of the season.
           
With the Ravens skating with a man advantage early in final period, senior Shawn Dooley (Rockland, Mass./Archbishop Williams) narrowed the deficit back to four scores, with assists credited to Reynolds and senior Matt Clemente (Middletown, N.J./Laconia Leafs). At the 5:55 mark, Jackson fielded a stray puck, but in his attempt to dump it to a teammate, he accidentally scored on his own net, a goal that was credited to junior Styles Bridges (Canton, N.Y./SUNY-Canton). After the ensuing face-off, just 12 seconds later, Reynolds closed the gap to two, seemingly swinging momentum in favor of Franklin Pierce. Despite their best efforts, the Ravens were unable to pull any closer, and with Tim Dancey's goal at 10:44, the Purple Knights sealed their fate.  
           
With the win, Saint Michael's advances to the Tournament semifinals, and will travel to Manchester, N.H. on Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. match up with top seeded Southern New Hampshire University.