Hill and Petros net penalty strokes to lift River Hawks past Ravens

RINDGE, N.H. (October 8, 2002) - The Franklin Pierce University field hockey team suffered a tough 3-2 loss to UMass Lowell in penalty strokes in Northeast-10 Conference field hockey action this afternoon at the Franklin Pierce Field Hockey/Lacrosse field.

The teams battled through two periods of scoreless overtime, deadlocked at two goals apiece before the game would be decided by penalty strokes. UMass Lowell freshman Courtney Hill and junior Laura Petros both capitalized on their stoke attempts to lift the River Hawks past Franklin Pierce.

The River Hawks got on the board first, as sophomore Stacey Pincus beat Franklin Pierce goalkeeper, Kasey McClements (Ashland, Mass./Ashland), in front of the net to make the score, 1-0.

The Ravens evened it up in the second half, as Stephanie Bradley (Warrington, Pa./Miller Place (N.Y.)) netted an unassisted tally at the 25:36 mark.

The Ravens pulled ahead, 2-1, with 15:19 left in regulation as Alissa Silverman (East Sandwich, Mass./Sandwich) beat UMass Lowell netminder, Patrice Mendoza, on the right side.

Franklin Pierce held off the UMass Lowell offense, until junior Martha Marsden netted the game-tying goal off of a penalty corner at the 5:58 mark.

The River Hawks offense was extremely persistent in overtime as the team combined for eight shots on net, but freshman goalkeeper, Brandi Guertin (Bellingham, Mass./Bellingham) made seven saves to send the game into overtime.

UMass Lowell came out on top in penalty strokes, beating the Ravens 2-1 for the win. McClements made seven saves in 35 minutes of work, while Guertin made 13 stops in 65 minutes in net. Mendoza made five stops in 100 minutes in net for the win.

Franklin Pierce (3-7, 3-3 NE-10) returns to action on Saturday when it hosts top-ranked Saint Michael's College in a Northeast-10 Conference match at 1 p.m. UMass Lowell (8-5, 5-1 NE-10) next travels to Bryant College for a Conference match at 4 p.m.