M. Ball leads Penmen to victory with ten point night

Boxscore 

MANCHESTER, N.H. (April 22, 2009) - Southern New Hampshire University outscored Franklin Pierce University 13-3 in the second half to seal a 25-9 victory in Northeast-10 Conference men's lacrosse action at Larkin Field tonight.

Senior Mike Ball (Salem, N.H./Herkimer CC) led Southern New Hampshire with six goals and four assists for a ten point night. Brother Sean Ball (Salem, N.H./Bryant) added four goals and an assist, while senior Dustin Latham (Penacook, N.H./Merrimack Valley) contributed three goals and two assists. Junior Terrence Nash (Oceanside, N.Y./Oceanside) and sophomore Marc Novaco (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford) each chipped in with three goals and an assist.

Sophomore Jack Scanlan (Great Neck, N.Y./Great Neck North) led Franklin Pierce with three goals and an assist for four points. Seniors Jason Flanigan (Shrewsbury, Mass./Shrewsbury) and Ryan Boller (New Canaan, Conn./New Canaan) each added two goals for the Ravens, while classmate Kyle Kruse (Bourne, Mass./Bourne) chipped in a goal and two assists.

Freshman Brendan O'Brien (Hopkinton, Mass./Hopkinton) earned the win in goal for SNHU with nine saves over the first 45-minutes of the contest. Sophomore Shea Campbell (Centerport, N.Y./Harborfields) played all 60-minutes in goal for Franklin Pierce and finished with 15 saves.

After the teams traded goals over the opening six minutes of the first quarter, Southern New Hampshire scored four-straight goals, two from Mike Ball, over a seven-minute span to open a 6-2 lead with 2:14 left in the frame.

Two-straight Franklin Pierce goals by Flanigan drew Franklin Pierce back within two (6-4) 4:02 into the second quarter. The Penmen gained control of the game with six of the next seven goals to take a seven goal advantage (12-5) after a Ball goal with 1:01 left before halftime. Ball netted three goals in all during that stretch.

Franklin Pierce again wrapped goals around the intermission to close within five (12-7) after a Boller goal, assisted by Kruse, 1:49 into the third quarter, but SNHU ended any hopes of a comeback with six-straight goals in the next five minutes to extend its lead to 11 (18-7) after a Nash marker with 8:50 left in the quarter. The Penmen later closed the game out with the final six goals of the contest.

Franklin Pierce (1-10, 1-7 NE-10) is back in action on Saturday when it rounds out the season at home against fourth-ranked Merrimack College for Senior Day at 4 p.m. Southern New Hampshire (4-8, 4-4 NE-10) hosts top-ranked Le Moyne College at 1 p.m.