KEENE, N.H. – Sean Hoffman and Marcus Chrisafideis combined for four goals, three assists, and a plus-seven rating as the Keene State College men's ice hockey team posted a wild 8-6 win over Franklin Pierce University in their home opener at a crowded Keene Ice on Saturday night.

Highlights
Postgame Interview (Sean Hoffman/Marcus Chrisafideis)
Postgame Interview (Coach Rodrigue)

The Owls (2-0-0) trailed by two after one, then scored six times in the second and had three different one-goal leads before the Ravens (0-1-0) tied it every time, including at 6-6 just 1:31 into the third with their third power play goal.  But Hoffman's second goal of the night with 5:49 to go, roofing a pass from Chrisafideis from distance, proved to be the game-winner and put the Owls ahead for good.  Cameron Reardon, in his collegiate debut, then six stops over the next five minutes to deny FPU another answering goal and Peter Unger put the game away with an empty net goal with 52 seconds to go.

The eight goals tie for the most in a game in program history, matching their amount in an 8-5 win over the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts at Vermont State University Castleton last November.
The second period may be among the more wild periods Owls fans see for a long time, with both teams combining for an unbelievable nine goals.  KSC 6, FPU 3 – in one period – not to be mistaken for the final score.  The scoring got started right away as Chrisafideis tallied his first goal of the season just 43 seconds in to cut the Owls' 2-0 deficit in half.  KSC tied it just 3:16 later on Joe Fontaine's power play goal, but Franklin Pierce jumped back ahead with John Sterling lighting the lamp just 23 seconds later.  Only 2:29 after that, Chrisafideis buried Unger's centering pass that deflected off a Ravens defender to make it 3-3.  And the scoring was just getting started.  Five more goals were scored in the final eight minutes of the period.  Thor Hansen jumped on a loose puck after a teammate's board battle, turned, and sniped a shot into the top left corner to give the Owls their first lead (4-3).  The advantage did not last four minutes, though, as Joshua Tisdell made it 4-4 at 16:19 of the period.  Hoffman buried his first of the night 50 seconds later, streaking up the right side and picking a corner off Chase Carney's pass from below the left dot for a 4-on-4 goal that made it 5-4.  Mario Paganini tied it once more for the Ravens 58 seconds later with one of their three power play goals, but KSC mostly weathered a five-minute major boarding penalty to Mike Collett late in the period.  The Owls' penalty kill answered just 43 seconds after Paganini tied it, as Sean Gray carried through the neutral zone and beat two defenders to create a chance in on goal, with Michael Boschetto jumping in the rush to his left.  Gray slid a pass to the Owl sophomore, who kicked to his stick and beat FPU goalie Jeremy Connor to the far post.  Got all that?  KSC carried a 6-5 lead into the second intermission.

It seemed the third period might follow a similar script when Sterling scored his second of the night on another of FPU's eight power play chances (12:11 of total time), but Reardon made 14 saves in the period to get his first collegiate win.

With no indication of the wildness to come, Connor was the story early – making 16 saves in the first period as the Ravens, who won only two games last season, took a 2-0 lead into the dressing room after one in the collegiate head coaching debut of Conor Foley, a 2023 FPU alum who was the Northeast-10 Player of the Year in 2022-2023 and an assistant coach at the State University of New York at Fredonia last season.

The Ravens generated 16 of their 39 shots on the power play in the game, scoring half of their goals on the man advantage.  KSC took eight penalties one night after being whistled for only two in a 2-1 road win over Saint Anselm College, another Northeast-10 team.  The Owls improved to 7-0-0 against the Division II conference in their history.

Next, KSC will make more history – their first ever Little East Conference game (and weekend) when they welcome Babson College (2-0-0) on Friday (November 7) for a 7:00 p.m. start and the University of Southern Maine (1-1-0) on Saturday, November 8 at 3:30 p.m.  The Beavers swept a home-and-home against Fitchburg State University on opening weekend, winning 4-1 on the road and 3-2 at home.