Don Denman comes up with 18 saves to help backstop the Ravens
to victory
RINDGE, N.H. (April 6, 2013) – The Franklin Pierce
University men's lacrosse team got balanced scoring from
several players and some huge saves throughout to pick up an
important 9-7 win over Saint Anselm on Saturday afternoon at Sodexo
Field in Rindge. The Ravens won for the third time in four games to
even their overall record at 4-4 and their Northeast-10 Conference
record at 3-3. The Hawks dipped to 2-6 and 2-4 in league play.
Sophomore attackman Kevin
Dargin (Littleton, Mass.) exploded for five points on
three goals and a pair of assists. He notched his hat-trick on a
game-high 11 shots, including six on goal.
Sophomore midfielder Erik
Kelly (Tewksbury, Mass.) added to his steady offensive
play by scoring twice and registering an assist for three
points.
However, a pair of Ravens stepped
out of the shadows offensively to help their team get the win, as
freshman Luke McDermott (New Milford, Conn.) and
sophomore Cody MacLellan (Keene, N.H.) each dumped
in a pair of goals. McDermott also recorded an assist to cap his
three-point day. Franklin Pierce registered 31 shots, including
putting 19 on goal.
If the offensive play wasn't
impressive enough, Franklin Pierce also got it done defensively,
including sophomore goalie Don Denman (Exeter,
N.H.) turning aside 18 of 25 shots to earn the win to run
his record to 4-4 on the year.
The Ravens also forced St.
A's into 19 turnovers as senior defender Ben
McDannell (Morrisville, Pa.) caused three of the miscues,
while McDermott and sophomore Will Schorle (Marshfield,
Mass.) caused a pair each.
The victory was Franklin
Pierce's second-straight over Saint Anselm, as the Ravens
also downed the Hawks, 11-10, last season in Manchester. That win
proved to be one of the most special in program history as it was
Franklin Pierce's first triumph over a nationally-ranked
opponent.
The game was evenly contested
throughout and the Ravens scored back-to-back goals to open up the
second half and snap a 4-all tie. MacLellan scored an unassisted
tally midway through the period and Dargin fired a strike 70
seconds later to put the Ravens up by two.
Saint Anselm, though, settled
things down late in the frame and sandwiched a pair of tallies
around a Kelly marker to pull within one heading into the fourth
quarter.
Dargin, though, put the Ravens back
up by two at 8-6 a little more than two minutes into the final
frame as he buried a man-up goal from off the left side of the goal
following an impressive dish from freshman Casey Burnett
(Windham, N.H.).
Ben Warren cut Saint Anselm's
deficit in half at 8-7 two-and-a-half minutes later with a goal,
but Kelly sent home an unassisted marker just 90 seconds later to
effectively end any threat by the Hawks.
Denman came up with several huge
stops in the final minutes, including one from point blank in front
of his own goal with four minutes to go.
Dargin's five-point day was
his second in the last three contests and ran his team-leading
point total to 25 points.
McDermott tossed in Franklin
Pierce's first two goals to get the scoring started as the
Ravens held a 3-2 advantage after one.
Franklin Pierce returns to action
Tuesday night when the Ravens travel to Manchester to face Southern
New Hampshire at 7 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/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(.)
