Ravens tied with nationally-ranked foe late in the first
half
BOXSCORE
RINDGE, N.H. (April 5, 2011) – For the second game
in a row, the Franklin Pierce University men's lacrosse team
hung tough in the first half with one of the Northeast-10's
best teams. The Ravens found themselves tied 6-6 with No.
9-nationally ranked Merrimack late in the first half on Tuesday,
but the Warriors were able to bridge the second and third quarters
with multiple goals to pull away for a hard-fought 15-8 win at
Sodexo Field in Rindge. Despite the strong play by the Ravens,
Franklin Pierce fell to 3-5 overall and 1-4 in the NE-10, while
Merrimack improved to 7-2 and 4-1 in league play.
Junior midfielder Eric
Harries (Dunstable, Mass.) had another solid game for the
Ravens as he tossed in three goals for the second-straight contest.
He also assisted on two others for a five-point afternoon. Seniors
Jack Scanlan (Great Neck, N.Y.) and Nate
Wood (Binghamton, N.Y.) chipped in with two goals apiece,
while junior middie Ryan Dintaman (Northfield,
Mass.) tallied the other marker for the Ravens.
Freshman goaltender Tim
Izzo (Trumbull, Conn.) got the start in goal for the
Ravens and made 14 saves despite suffering the loss to fall to 3-5.
He made several strong saves in the second quarter which enabled
the Ravens to remain in the contest and ultimately tie the score
late in the half.
Terence Barclay and Nick Vazquez
totaled three goals each for Merrimack, while Brad McAdam, Corey
Lunney and Michael Balbuena had two tallies apiece. Lunney also
assisted on four goals to produce a six-point afternoon. Connor
Reagan got the start in net for the Warriors and made nine saves to
earn the win and improve to 7-2 on the year.
Merrimack came out firing and
scored three quick goals to begin the game, but the Ravens
countered with man-up tallies from Harries and Dintaman in a
44-second span midway through the first quarter to pull within a
goal at 3-2.
The Warriors bridged the first and
second quarters with two goals to grab a 5-2 advantage, but the
Ravens stormed back with three-consecutive markers to knot the
score at 5-5 with 9:42 left in the half. Scanlan scored the first
goal at 12:28 when he moved to the front of the net, took a pass
from Jimmy McInnis (Amherst, N.H.) and slipped a
shot to the lower-left corner of the net for the score. Harries got
the next goal just 33 seconds later when he sprinted towards the
net and fired a strike that took Merrimack's defense and
Reagan by surprise. Wood capped the brief surge with a marker at
9:42 as he scored from the slot following a nice slip pass by
Harries.
Mike Perdie put Merrimack back on
top 6-5 at the 8:27 mark with a shot from the left side of the net,
but Harries responded a little more than a minute later with a
tally to even the game at 6-6.
Both teams settled down defensively
for the next few minutes, but following a Franklin Pierce penalty
late in the quarter, Merrimack scored three times (including two
man-up goals) to take a 9-6 lead into halftime.
That momentum carried over into the
third quarter as the Warriors opened the stanza by scoring
five-straight tallies to take a 14-6 lead and put the game out of
reach. Wood and Scanlan did score for Franklin Pierce in the second
half, but it wasn't enough as Merrimack went on for the
win.
Franklin Pierce returns to action
Saturday when the Ravens travel to Worcester, Mass. to take on
Assumption at 12 p.m.
For more information on Franklin
Pierce men's lacrosse, please visit the team's page at
athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.) To follow the program even further,
please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on YouTube (www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports),
Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics)
and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceAthletics).
