Letarte scores lone Ravens goal
Bird tallied her second assist in as many games on Tuesday afternoon.
|
RINDGE, N.H. (September 6, 2011) – Sophomore forward Chanelle Letarte (Lunenburg, Mass.) scored her first career goal on Tuesday afternoon, but the Franklin Pierce University field hockey team dropped a 5-1 decision to Adelphi in non-conference play at Sodexo Field. Senior forward Jeanette Heimerle scored two goals and added an assist to total five points in the victory for Adelphi.
With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 1-1 (0-0 Northeast-10), while Adelphi improves to 2-1 (0-0 Northeast-10). The two teams will play their Northeast-10 Conference contest on Sept. 27 at Adelphi.
Adelphi controlled play out of the gate to start the contest and netted the game's first goal just 3:16 in. Heimerle had the ball on the right side and brought it towards the goal along the end line. From 10 feet outside the post, she pushed a pass into the middle and found senior midfielder Jessica Mulhern open in front of the net. Mulhern banged the ball into the waiting cage for her first goal of the season.
Franklin Pierce answered on a similar play just less than 20 minutes later. Junior midfielder Megan Bird (Laconia, N.H.) took the ball into the left side of the circle and worked her way towards the end line. From there, she sent a pass towards Letarte in front of the left post. Letarte was hassled by her defender, but managed to get her stick to the ball on her backhand and slice the ball into the cage. It was Letarte's first career goal, and the second assist in as many games to start the season for Bird.
Franklin Pierce held a 10-7 edge in shots and a 4-2 advantage in penalty corners in the first half. However, Adelphi would take control of the game with two goals in the first 1:56 of the second half.
First, less than a minute into the stanza, senior midfielder Brittany Kinsley took a corner for Adelphi and injected the ball to junior midfielder Emilee Rahner at the top of the circle. Rahner sent a shot along the ground that slipped through a forest of shin guards and into the back of the cage to give Adelphi a 2-1 lead they would not relinquish. Just 67 seconds later, Heimerle made it 3-1 with her first of two goals on the afternoon. Heimerle had the ball along the end line on the right side and appeared to try to flip a cross to the front of the net. However, the feed caught the pad of Franklin Pierce senior goalkeeper Brittany Nyzio (Attleboro, Mass.) and slipped across the line, despite the diving effort of a defender at the far post.
With just under 15 minutes to play, another tricky deflection put the game on ice for the Panthers. Kinsley would pick up her second assist of the contest, as she sent a ball towards the cage from the top of the circle. While in flight, the ball struck the stick of junior forward Cassie Cabral and redirected behind the goalkeeper for Cabral's second goal of the season. Heimerle added her second goal of the game (third of the season) on an assist from senior forward Julianne Gerbino with 4:46 to play created the 5-1 final.
Nyzio started, made three saves against seven shots and took the loss (1-1) in front of the cage for Franklin Pierce, after exiting with 13:07 to play. Senior Rachel Baxter (Cumberland, R.I.) gave up the final goal of the afternoon in relief.
Senior Lucia Vigliotti stopped seven of the eight shots sent her way to pick up the win (2-1) between the pipes for Adelphi.
Despite the rash of scoring, fewer offensive chances came at both ends in the second half, as Franklin Pierce finished with a 13-12 edge in shots and a 6-4 advantage in penalty corners.
The Ravens return to the field on Thursday, Sept. 8, when they travel to Assumption for a non-conference contest. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at Multi-Sport Stadium in Worcester, Mass. Franklin Pierce next plays at home on Tuesday, Sept. 20, against Merrimack at 7 p.m.
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).
