WINCHENDON, Mass. – Senior forward Ryan Gervais (Chicago, Ill.) scored a goal and added two assists on Saturday night to spark Nichols to a 5-2 comeback victory over the Franklin Pierce University ice hockey team in ECAC Northeast Conference play at The Winchendon School Ice Arena. Nichols junior forward Zeke Costello (Shelby Township, Mich.) chipped in with a pair of goals as the Bison netted five unanswered tallies to erase the Ravens' two-goal lead, taken within the first six minutes of the game.

Senior forward Coursen Schneider opened the scoring 3:19 into the contest with his first goal of the season when he rifled home a shot from the bottom of the right circle off an assist from junior forward Casey Goodell. Just 2:09 later, junior defenseman Rob Perretta sprung senior forward Jay Stempniak on a rush with a pass up the right side. Stempniak unleashed a slapshot from the top of the right circle which found the net to give the Ravens a 2-0 lead. The goal chased Nichols starter, senior goaltender Keith Fink (Easton, Md.) from the game in favor of freshman Mike Davis (Monroe, Mich.) just 5:28 into the game.

The remainder of the first and over 11 minutes of the second period passed with no further scoring before Nichols scored three times in a span of 2:46 to take a lead it would not relinquish. First, Gervais cut the deficit to 2-1 at the 11:51 mark with his eighth goal of the season as he got open in the high slot and one-timed home a pass from junior forward Eric Cremer (Chelsea, Mich.). At the 13:59 mark, Costello tied the game at 2-2 with a power play marker from the right circle, with assists credited to senior defenseman Jeff Bieber (Littleton, Colo.) and Gervais.

Just 38 seconds later, a slick passing play set up the third Bison goal of the period. Cremer sent the puck from the left half-boards into the left corner. From there, sophomore forward Will Munson (Corona, Calif.) took the puck behind the net and flipped a centering feed to freshman forward Andrew Ella (Schomberg, Ontario) who slammed home the game-winning goal, his fifth tally of the season.

Nichols added a pair of insurance markers in the third period. On the power play at the 1:06 mark, senior forward Anthony Monte (Chicago, Ill.) scored his seventh of the season with a snap shot from the top of the right circle off assists from Gervais and sophomore forward JoJo Bojanowski (Washington Township, Mich.). Costello capped the scoring at the 5:33 mark with his second of the game and sixth of the season when he finished a 2-on-1 rush. Sophomore forward Matt Sayer (Lowell, Mass.) set up the goal, while Bojanowski picked up an assist with the pass that started the rush.

Nichols held a 38-15 edge in shots on goal in the game and went 2-for-7 on the power play. Franklin Pierce finished 0-for-6 with the man advantage.

Freshman goaltender Ben Siok made 33 saves for Franklin Pierce in defeat. Fink made one save for Nichols before giving way to Davis, who  made 12 saves the rest of the way to improve to 4-1-0 on the season.

Nichols (14-1-0, 9-0-0 ECAC Northeast) returns to action Sunday Jan. 11, in an 8:30 p.m. home game against #13 Manhattanville.

Story courtesy Franklin Pierce Sports Information

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