Men’s Ice Hockey Drops Back and Forth Game with SNHU

Framingham, Mass. – The Framingham State men's ice hockey dropped a non-conference game with Southern New Hampshire by a score of 5-4 on Tuesday evening at Loring Arena. With the win the Penmen improve to 7-13-4 and the Rams fall to 4-15-1.

The Penmen got on the board first with two quick goals. Freshman Artem Efimov-Barakow (Khimiki, Russia) netted the game's first goal in the fifth minute of play with assists coming from Michael Bears (Londonderry, NH) & Michael Busconi (Watertown, Mass.). Less than a minute later the visitors struck again when Kyle Valliere (Goffstown, NH) scored with an assist coming from Kevin Lorcher (Rouen, France) that knocked out the Rams starting goalie.

The Rams turned the momentum around later in the 1^st period when they scored three straight goals. In the 13^th minute Mark Essery (Rockfall, CT) scored the Rams first goal with assists from Richard O'Connor (North Andover, Mass.) and Chris Andre (New Bedford, Mass.). The hosts knotted the score at 2 about five minutes later when O'Connor scored with an assist coming from Essery. Under a minute later FSU took the lead when Cameron Hoffman (Fort Stevens, WA) beat the Penmen goalie with assists from Melvin Nichols (Alexandria, VA) & Greg Stoya (Lake George, NY).

SNHU recaptured the momentum when they tied the game on a power-play goal late in the second frame when Chris Moquin (Hooksett, NH) scored an unassisted goal. The Penman took the lead just 55 seconds later when Valliere scored his second of the game with assists from Lorcher & Griffin Rogers (Sanbornton, NH).

Rams freshman Jake McKinnon (Framingham, Mass.) scored a power-play goal early in the 3^rd frame to tie the game at 4 a side. The visitors would answer on a power-play of their own just four minutes later when Efimov-Barakov scored his second of the game with Paul Pirozzo (North Babylon, NY) assisting.

The Penmen were 2-of-5 on the power-play while the Rams converted on one of their four attempts.  

Freshman Adam Calabrese (Philadelphia, PA) made 25 saves in relief of starter Scott Nicolich (Glen Cove, NY) for the Rams. David Letarte (Salem, Mass.) turned away 23 shots in the victory for SNHU.

The Rams return to the ice on Saturday, February 13^th when they travel to Plymouth State. The Penmen will host Stonehill on the same day.