Casey Burnett with two goals and two assists for four
points
RINDGE, N.H. (March 23, 2013) – The Franklin Pierce
University men's lacrosse team gave No. 4 nationally ranked
Adelphi all it could handle on Saturday, but the Panthers used a
late run in the fourth quarter to avoid an upset and a 10-5 triumph
over the Ravens at Sodexo Field in Rindge. The Ravens dropped their
third straight to fall to 1-3 overall and 0-2 in the Northeast-10,
while the Panthers improved to 4-0 and 2-0 in league play.
Sophomore midfielder Kevin
Dargin (Littleton, Mass.) continued his strong offensive
play with six shots, including sending home a missile strike with
5:51 remaining to pull Franklin Pierce to within a goal at 5-4.
Franklin Pierce carried the play
the remainder of the quarter and had a couple of opportunities to
knot the score, but Adelphi goalie Aidan Bennardo – who came
on in relief at the start of the third quarter – turned aside
multiple shots in the closing minutes of the stanza to keep his
team up a goal.
The saves sparked Adelphi early in
the fourth as the Panthers began to generate offensive chances.
They finally broke through with three goals in a two-and-a-half
minute span to open up an 8-4 lead with 6:24 to go.
Salvatore Tuttle kick-started the
surge with a goal at the 8:53 mark and Ikerson Hopper followed with
a goal on an outstanding individual move around two defenders in
the crease before depositing a shot in the back of the net. Cory
Stavis capped the run with a marker moments later.
It marked the third-consecutive
game the opposition used a lengthy run late to pull away from a
feisty Ravens squad.
Freshman attackman Casey
Burnett (Windham, N.H.), who had an impressive offensive
game with two goals and a pair of assists for four points, tallied
a man-up goal with 3:45 remaining to stem the tide, but it was as
close as Franklin Pierce would make it.
Adelphi rang up a 48-38 advantage
in shots, including a 31-24 edge in shots on goal. Nick Watson, who
came into the game with zero goals, tallied four markers on 10
attempts and had an assist for a game-high five points.
Despite Adelphi's offensive
onslaught, Franklin Pierce was able to remain in the game due to
the impressive performance from sophomore goalie Don Denman
(Exeter, N.H.), who stopped a career-high 21 shots,
including six in the second quarter.
The Panthers also helped their
cause by owning a commanding 15-4 advantage in face-offs and
limiting the Ravens to a 21-for-31 effort in clear attempts.
The teams traded goals in the first
quarter. Burnett broke the ice four minutes in with a goal off a
nice crossing attempt from in front of the crease. Watson scored
the first of his four markers at 9:22 of the frame, but
Bryan Bourque (Goffstown, N.H.) responded 50
seconds later with a nifty tally to put Franklin Pierce back up by
one.
Adelphi bridged the first and
second quarters with three-straight goals, including
Ikerson's man-up goal late in the opening period, to go up
4-2. Sophomore middie Erik Kelly (Tewksbury,
Mass.) cut the Ravens' deficit to one with 2:50 left
until halftime with his fifth man-up goal of the season, which is
the second highest total in the NE-10 and is only one off the lead
set by American International's Jeff Sienkiewicz.
Franklin Pierce has been
outstanding on its man-up opportunities through the opening four
games as the Ravens have scor
ed nine times (3rd in NE-10) and posted a success
rate of 45 percent, which is the second best mark in the
league.
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).
Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce men's lacrosse
apparel can do so on the athletic department's online store
at athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store(.)
