Ravens travel to Saint Michael's Tuesday to open three-game week

RINDGE, N.H. (April 5, 2013) – Sophomore attacker Amy McNeil poured in 10 goals and added a pair of assists to tally a career-high 12 points on Friday afternoon to lead Assumption to a 23-10 win over the Franklin Pierce University women's lacrosse team in Northeast-10 Conference play at Sodexo Field. Senior midfielder Courtney Weber (Centerport, N.Y.) scored a team-high five goals -- her most since April 10, 2012 against Southern New Hampshire -- in the loss for Franklin Pierce.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 2-5 (1-4 Northeast-10), while Assumption improves to 8-4 (5-3 Northeast-10).

Assumption never trailed in the game, as it scored the first two goals in the opening 3:20 and never looked back. McNeil scored first with her team-leading 49th of the season -- she would have 58 by the time the game was done, which currently leads the Northeast-10 -- while junior midfielder Kathryn Beall added her 14th of the campaign off an assist from senior attacker Michelle Santos, who would finish the game with five points (3-2-5).

Franklin Pierce pulled within one goal for the only time on the afternoon just 24 seconds later on a do-it-yourself effort from sophomore attacker Megan Raposa (Tiverton, R.I.). Raposa scooped up the draw control, beat her marker down the right-wing side, and found herself with a clear path to the net for her third goal of the year. Raposa hassled Assumption in its own defensive end for much of the afternoon, as she finished with four ground balls, three shot attempts, one draw control and a caused turnover before leaving the game in the second half after rolling her ankle.

Meanwhile, back in the first half, Assumption scored four of the next five goals to take a 7-2 lead, and would not lead by fewer than four goals for the remainder of the afternoon. McNeil scored twice and had an assist in the game-changing spurt, while sophomore midfielder Camille Auger chipped in two goals and two assists on her way to finishing with seven points (4-3-7).

Weber's first of five scores on the day was the only Raven goal in that stretch, and she would add another later in the first half that briefly cut the lead to 8-4 with 14:03 remaining before the intermission. Weber's other three goals came in the second half, including two in a quick 3-1 Franklin Pierce run that pulled the Ravens within six goals (15-9) with 18:28 to play. However, Assumption scored the next four goals and eight of the final nine to salt the game away and come away with the 23-10 win.

In all, Weber finished with eight shot attempts, and scored her five goals on six shots on goal. She also collected three ground balls and two draw controls, while causing two turnovers (but also turned it over twice). Elsewhere for the Ravens, freshman defender Lauren Beville (Jamesville, N.Y.) hauled in eight of the 14 draw controls which Franklin Pierce possessed on the day. Sophomore midfielder Madeline Shopshire (Hyannis, Mass.) collected four ground balls and two draw controls to go with a goal and an assist, though she came up empty on a pair of first-half free-position shots.

In the attacking third, freshman Nicole Dale (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.) caused three turnovers while only turning the ball over once, picked up one ground ball and snagged one draw control, but also was stopped on all three of her shots on goal. Senior Ashley Lamagdeleine (Westfield, Mass.) was able to find space to get off four shots on goal as one of the team's top three offensive options on the day, but was stymied on all four, though she did have her second multiple-assist game of the season to finish with two points.

Assumption did a large amount of its damage by controlling the ball off of draws, as the Greyhounds only caused four turnovers as a team. The midfield piled up 21 draw controls however, led by five each from freshman Meghan Curtin and senior Steph O'Rourke, as well as four from junior Mary Guinee.

In reality, the game was much closer statistically than the 13-goal margin suggests. Assumption did hold a 21-14 edge in draw controls, which told much of the story, especially when paired with junior goalkeeper Michelle Monahan's 18-save effort against 28 shots on goal to pick up the win (7-4). The Greyhounds posted slim advantages in both shot attempts (41-34) and shots on goal (32-28), but the Franklin Pierce defensive effort allowed junior goalkeeper Jacqueline Jolles (Hamden, Conn.) to come up with just nine saves in the loss (2-4).

Elsewhere on the stat sheet, things were much closer, as Franklin Pierce turned the ball over 17 times, compared to 16 for Assumption. The Ravens outpaced the Greyhounds 21-13 in the ground-ball department. Assumption was successful on 14 of 17 clears (82.4%), compared to 11-for-16 (68.8%) for Franklin pierce, but -- especially when combined with the even turnover numbers -- the difference is not statistically significant. Both teams were largely unsuccessful on free-position shots, as Assumption went 3-for-10 (30%), while Franklin Pierce went 1-for-8 (12.5%).

The Ravens return to the field on Tuesday, April 9, when they travel to Saint Michael's for a Northeast-10 Conference contest. Game time is set for 4 p.m. at Duffy Field in Colchester, Vt.

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). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce women's lacrosse apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).