Gleason scores lone goal

RINDGE, N.H. (October 29, 2013) – Senior forward Alesia Gleason (Harwich, Mass.) put an imaginative lift over the defense and the goalkeeper on a first-half penalty corner to cut a 2-0 deficit to 2-1, but the Franklin Pierce University field hockey team would never draw closer on Tuesday evening in a 3-1 loss to Saint Anselm in Northeast-10 Conference play at Sodexo Field. Sophomore forward Meagan Halligan scored twice in the win for Saint Anselm.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 2-14 (1-9 Northeast-10), while Saint Anselm improves to 6-10 (4-5 Northeast-10). The win allowed Saint Anselm to finish off a two-game season sweep of Franklin Pierce after posting a 3-2, overtime win on Sept. 17 in Manchester, N.H.

The teams would be fairly evenly matched all night, with both offenses generating 12 shot attempts, Franklin Pierce enjoying a 9-7 edge in penalty corners and Saint Anselm posting a 9-7 advantage in shots on goal. Nonetheless, Saint Anselm came away the two-goal victor after setting the tone early, as the Hawks struck just 2:41 into the proceedings. After the initial shot on the penalty corner was turned away by sophomore goalkeeper Erin Wood (Dover Plains, N.Y.), sophomore midfielder Taylor Coons slipped a quick pass to the left post to Halligan, who stuffed home her second goal of the season.

Saint Anselm pushed the lead to 2-0 with a goal in the 15th minute, after the offense generated a mismatch down low in the circle. With the ball and space to work with on the right side, senior forward Elizabeth Sears sent a cross to the left post, where sophomore forward Colleen Sears finished off her third of the campaign.

Franklin Pierce struck for its lone goal of the night less than three minutes after the Sears goal. Off a penalty corner, the ball came to Gleason on the left side of the circle. Gleason didn't have much of a shooting lane, so she invented her own and lifted the ball over everybody. It cleared the goalkeeper and dropped into the back of the cage for her fifth goal of the season.

From there, the game would go without another goal until the final minute. After back-and-forth runs of play in the closing minutes, Saint Anselm created the 3-1 final with Halligan's second of the night with 41 seconds to play. Again she finished from in front of the cage, this time off a feed from the left by Colleen Sears, who capped a three-point night.

Wood made six saves against nine shots on goal and took the loss (1-2) in net for Franklin Pierce. At the other end, freshman Katherine Sears made six saves against seven shots on goal to pick up the win (3-5) for Saint Anselm.

The Ravens return to the field on Thursday, Oct. 31, when they travel to Mercy for a non-conference contest. Game time is set for 4 p.m. at Mavericks Field in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. Franklin Pierce next plays at home on Saturday, Nov. 2 against Southern Connecticut State at 1 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). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce field hockey apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).