Baillargeon, Lauren Stille, Mary Kate Stille combine for 17 goals, 20 points

SPARTANBURG, S.C. (March 17, 2011) – Senior attacker Jordan Baillargeon (Westfield, Mass.) scored a game-best seven goals and added two assists to finish with nine points on Thursday afternoon as the Franklin Pierce University women's lacrosse team powered to a 23-14 win at Converse in non-conference play at Hayden Abney Fulp Field. Fellow senior attacker Lauren Stille (North Quincy, Mass.) finished with six goals of her own and added an assist to total seven points.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 3-0 (0-0 Northeast-10) and finishes its season-opening trip to the Carolinas undefeated, while Converse falls to 1-7 (0-2 Conference Carolinas). It marks the most consecutive victories to open a season in program history for the Ravens.

Franklin Pierce all but put the game away in the first half. Stille and Baillargeon set the tone early, as they scored unassisted goals 31 seconds and 1:57 into the contest, respectively, before junior attacker Mary Kate Stille (North Quincy, Mass.) converted a feed from junior attacker Brianna Nash (Oceanside, N.Y.) at the 3:27 mark to stake the Ravens to a 3-0 lead.

After a goal by Converse sophomore defender Sam Green, Lauren Stille outscored the Valkyries 4-2 herself over a span of four minutes to stretch the lead to 7-3. Converse sophomore midfielder Brianna Hoffman briefly cut the lead the 7-4 with 8:45 to play in the first half, but that was as close as the Valkyries would get the rest of the way. From there, Mary Kate Stille scored twice in a span of 1:11 and Baillargeon netted a pair of goals 20 seconds apart to give Franklin Pierce an 11-4 lead heading into the halftime break. The Ravens outshot Converse 18-12 over the opening half-hour.

Franklin Pierce scored four of the first five goals in the second half, including two more from Baillargeon and one each from Nash and freshman midfielder Julie Hemphill (Clarkston, Mich.) to effectively put the game out of reach at 15-5. Only a late run where Converse outscored Franklin Pierce 7-2 closed the gap to as close as six goals before the Ravens tacked on three goals in the final 2:31 to post the nine-goal victory.

Mary Kate Stille finished the afternoon with four goals and was the only Raven aside from Baillargeon and Lauren Stille to finish with more than three points or more than two goals. Sophomore midfielder Courtney Weber (Centerport, N.Y.) was the only other multiple-goal scorer for Franklin Pierce, as she finished with two goals and an assist for three points.

On the other side of the ball, Weber and Mary Kate Stille hassled Converse ball carriers all afternoon, as each tied for the team lead with three caused turnovers. The latter led the Ravens by collecting eight ground balls, while the former scooped up five.

For Converse, sophomore attacker Lacey Bevilacqua led the way with four goals and five assists to total seven points. Hoffman tallied three goals and an assist for four points as the only other Valkyrie to finish with more than two points. Green and sophomore attacker Jennifer Tropiano rounded out the Converse multiple-goal scorers with two goals each.

Defensively, sophomore midfielder Lindsey Reuss was the only Converse player to top five ground balls, as she finished with seven, though sophomore defender Courtney Cambra did pick up four of her own. Both Bevilacqua and sophomore attacker Brooke Bondurant forced four turnovers.

Junior goalkeeper Jill Bolduc (Atkinson, N.H.) made nine saves to pick up the win (3-0) in front of the Franklin Pierce net. Sophomore Madison Noland started, made one save over 27:21 and took the loss (0-2) between the pipes for Converse. In relief, freshman Tabitha Chamblee stopped three shots over 32:39.

Franklin Pierce posted a 36-30 advantage in shots in the game, while Converse held a 22-17 edge in draw controls. The Ravens were successful on 18 of 23 (78.3 percent) clear attempts and were a perfect 3-for-3 on free-position shots. Converse went 12-for-19 (63.2 percent) on clear attempts and 2-for-8 on free-position shots.

The Ravens return to the field on Wednesday, March 23, when they hold their home opener against Bentley in a Northeast-10 Conference contest. Game time is set for 6 p.m. at Sodexo Field in Rindge, N.H.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics).