Freshman Matt Entwisle notches a pair of assists to help aid in
the Ravens' offensive attack
RINDGE, N.H. (March 31, 2012) -- The Franklin Pierce
University men's lacrosse team got off to a fast start, which
helped to propel the Ravens to an important and satisfying 11-6 win
over Assumption on Saturday afternoon at Sodexo Field in Rindge.
Franklin Pierce snapped a two-game losing streak in improving to
4-3 overall and 2-2 in the Northeast-10, while the Greyhounds fell
to 2-6 and 1-3 in league play.
Franklin Pierce, which is off to
the program's best start in NE-10 play after four games, was led
offensively by junior attackman Brendan Cahill (Hollis,
N.H.), who dumped in a game-high three goals. Seniors
Ryan Dintaman (Northfield, Mass.) and
Jimmy McInnis (Amherst, N.H.) each netted a pair
of goals, while freshman Matt Entwistle (Marshfield,
Mass.) logged a pair of assists.
The Ravens also had a strong day
defensively as they limited Assumption to just five shots in the
first half in building an 8-1 lead at the intermission. Franklin
Pierce forced the Greyhounds into 15 first-half turnovers,
including nine in the first quarter alone. Freshman Will
Schorle (Marshfield, Mass.) forced Assumption into three
miscues, while junior Ben McDannell (Morrisville,
Pa.) and senior Alex Whitney (Stratham,
N.H.) caused a pair of turnovers. Whitney's two caused
TO's added to his league leading total of 22.
Assumption was able to solve some
of Franklin Pierce's defensive trappings in the second half, but
the Ravens were backstopped by freshman goalie Don Denman
(Exeter, N.H.), who made nine of his 11 saves in the final
30 minutes to seal the win and run his record to 4-3 on the
year.
Franklin Pierce's 4-3 mark after
the first seven games is tied for the best start in program history
as the 2010 team also completed the task. This year's squad is just
one win away from tying the program record for the most wins in a
single season, which the 2010 team did with five triumphs.
The outstanding defensive play of
the Ravens carried over to the offensive side in the opening 30
minutes as they were able to build a seven-goal lead at halftime.
Franklin Pierce came out firing early and pumped in a pair of goals
in the opening three minutes to take a quick 2-0 lead. Dintaman
notched the game's first goal with an unassisted tally and
sophomore attackman Eddie Noonan (Foxboro, Mass.)
threw in a marker shortly thereafter as he took a feed from
Entwistle in front of the goal and slipped a shot to the upper
right corner of the net as he was falling away to the left of the
crease. McInnis netted a tally at the 6:06 mark of the quarter and
Franklin Pierce took a 3-0 lead into the second.
Sophomore Bryan Bourque
(Goffstown, N.H.) had a memorable game as he scored his
first collegiate goal at the 11:17 mark of the second quarter,
which staked the Ravens to a 4-0 lead. Bourque's speed and energy
provided a boost to the Ravens' offensive attack in the first half
as he generated several scoring chances.
The momentum from Bourque's goal
was short lived as Casey Marren scored right off the ensuing face
off nine seconds later to put the Greyhounds on the board and pull
them to within a 4-1 margin.
Assumption held the pace of play
for the next couple of minutes, but the Ravens wrestled back the
momentum with four unanswered goals to close out the half for the
8-1 lead. McInnis and Cahill scored back-to-back tallies, while
sophomore Alex Connolly (West Newbury, Mass.)
threw in a marker with 4:58 left. Cahill picked up his second goal
a little more than a minute later to cap the first-half
scoring.
After an early Assumption goal by
Tom Guido to begin the third quarter, Cahill and freshman
Cody MacLellan (Keene, N.H.) answered with
consecutive goals to put the Ravens up 10-2.
Guido and Ian Mack capped the frame with back-to-back goals and
Assumption entered the fourth quarter down 10-4. The Greyhounds
were able to fire off 23 shots in the second half as they tried to
mount a rally, but Denman came up huge for the Ravens as he stopped
several point-blank attempts to thwart the comeback.
Dintaman scored with 3:31 remaining
in the game to put the Ravens up 11-4, as they would not look back
in cruising in for the victory.
Franklin Pierce returns to action
Wednesday when the Ravens play host to Le Moyne at 2:30 p.m. in
Sodexo Field.
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/FranklinPierceRavens).
