WINCHENDON, Mass.—Adam Ziegler (Medford, Mass.) scored with 12:54 remaining in the sudden-victory overtime period to give the sixth-seeded Southern New Hampshire University Penmen the 3-2 win against the third-seeded Ravens of Franklin Pierce University in the quarterfinals of the Northeast-10 Conference Championship. With the win, the Penmen improve to 6-16-2 overall, while the Ravens conclude their season at 8-18-0.
Ziegler collected Tyler Pascucci's (North Reading, Mass.) backhanded pass from behind the net and snapped the puck past Franklin Pierce goaltender Dave O'Brien to solidify the win.
The Penmen would take an early lead 6:12 into the first period on Ziegler's fourth goal of the season. Craig Carbonneau (Medford, Mass.) found an open Bobby Bryant (Nashua, N.H.) on the right side of the crease. Bryant then crossed it to Ziegler on the left, who poked the puck past O'Brien to give the Penmen the 1-0 advantage.
Franklin Pierce would start the second period on the power play, but Penmen goaltender Tyler Holske (Attleboro, Mass.) posted six saves to kill the man-advantage for the Ravens. The Ravens would even the score at 1-1 with 6:58 remaining in the period. Adam Dallaire's initial shot was saved by Holske, but the puck floated near the goal line and Nate Ashley jabbed it into the net to record his first career goal.
Entering the third period deadlocked at one goal apiece, Franklin Pierce would take the 2-1 advantage with 13:02 remaining in the third period on a goal by Bryan Colella. Roscoe Sweeney and Patrick Shortt assisted on the goal.
The Penmen would tie the game at 2-2 with 5:20 remaining in the final frame as Carbonneau collected a pass from Ziegler and found a streaking Pascucci, who pushed the puck past O'Brien to force overtime.
Holske recorded 34 saves in net for the Penmen en route to the win, while O'Brien took the loss for the Ravens and posted 30 saves.
The Penmen now advance to the Northeast-10 Championship semifinals and will travel to face the top-seeded Purple Knights of Saint Michael's College at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 2.
