Strong second half leads Warriors to third-straight win
Ravens postseason hopes placed in hands of others and possible coin flip
Baillargeon and Moirano post record assist days for Ravens

Boxscore 

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. (April 23, 2009) - Franklin Pierce University was unable to punch a ticket to the postseason this afternoon as it dropped a 21-10 decision to Merrimack College in Northeast-10 Conference women's lacrosse action at Warrior Field.

Franklin Pierce (7-8, 4-6 NE-10), which has already established a new program record for wins in a season, must now wait out the NE-10 finales for both Saint Anselm College and Saint Michael's College to determine whether the Ravens will return to the postseason for first time since 2003. Saint Anselm can clinch the sixth and final spot in next week's NE-10 Tournament with a win at Bentley University tomorrow night. Merrimack (6-7, 6-3 NE-10) closes out the regular season at Southern Connecticut State University on Saturday at noon. 

Franklin Pierce can still get in the postseason with losses by both Saint Anselm tomorrow night at Bentley and Saint Michael's versus American International College on Saturday in Colchester, Vt. The Ravens could also get into the tournament if Saint Anselm loses and Saint Michael's wins, creating a three-way tie, forcing the NE-10 tiebreaker between the three to go all the way down to a coin-flip between the three programs to determine the sixth playoff participant. All three split the regular season meetings amongst each other and will have posted identical results among each of the other eight NE-10 teams if that scenario prevails. The NE-10 Tournament kicks off with first round action on Tuesday at the third and fourth seeds. The top two seeds earn a bye to Saturday's semifinals.

Senior Lauren Leddy (Sea Girt, N.J./Manasquan) and junior Mia Basile (Longmeadow, Mass./Longmeadow) combined for 11 goals, four assists and 15 points to lead Merrimack to the victory. Basile scored a game-high six goals to go with two assists for eight points, while Leddy added five goals and two assists for seven points. Junior Kelly Pasquantonio (Plainville, Mass./King Phillip Regional) contributed two goals and three assists, while classmate Maddie Basile (Longmeadow, Mass./Longmeadow) chipped in two goals and two assists.

Sophomore Jordan Baillargeon (Westfield, Mass./Westfield) led Franklin Pierce with four goals and two assists. The two assists give her 16 for the season, breaking the program's single season record of 14 set by sophomore Lauren Stille (North Quincy, Mass./North Quincy) last spring. Baillargeon's 16 helpers are just one ahead of sophomore Ashley Moirano (South Burlington, Vt./South Burlington) who matched a program record today with three assists, giving her 15 for the year. It's the 13^th time in program history a player has collected three assists in a game and the fifth time this season. Stille added four goals for the Ravens.

Junior Jamie-Lee Whiteway (Billerica, Mass./Billerica) made eight of her ten saves in the first half for Merrimack as the Warriors out-shot Franklin Pierce 22-5 in the second half en route to a 49-21 margin for the contest. Merrimack was awarded 23 free-position shots, converting on eight, while the Ravens were just 1-for-3 on eight-meter attempts. Freshman Jillian Bolduc (Atkinson, N.H./Timberlane) finished with a season-high 22 stops in goal for the Ravens - the eighth-highest single game total in program history.

Merrimack turned the ball over just nine times, once in the second half alone, compared to 19 for Franklin Pierce.

Merrimack appeared poised to run away with the game in the early going, scoring the first seven goals of the contest over the opening 11:23. Mia Basile had two goals and an assist during that stretch, while Pasquantonio dished two assists. The Warriors had an eighth goal pulled off the board due to a foul and Franklin Pierce responded with a seven goal run of its own to knot the score after a goal from Baillargeon, assisted by freshman Brianna Nash (Oceanside, N.Y./Oceanside), with 10:33 remaining in the first half. Baillargeon had three goals and an assist during the rally, while sisters Lauren and Mary Kate Stille each scored twice and Moirano dished two assists.

Merrimack bounced back and scored the final four goals of the half, two from Basile, to take an 11-7 lead into halftime. The Warriors picked up where they left off, scoring the first three goals of the second half to open a 14-7 lead after a Basile goal 4:17 into the final 30 minutes. Lauren Stille pulled one back, assisted by Moirano, with 23:41 to play, but a second seven-goal comeback was not to be as Merrimack reeled off a game-clinching 6-0 run to open a 20-8 lead after a Pasquantonio goal with 6:55 to go.