Ravens visit Saint Anselm on Wednesday

RINDGE, N.H. (November 7, 2014) – Freshman goalkeeper Meaghan Williams (Salem, N.H.) piled up a season-best 14 saves on Friday afternoon, but was still beaten five times, as the Franklin Pierce University field hockey team suffered a 5-0 setback at the hands of Assumption in Northeast-10 Conference play at Sodexo Field. Senior forward Paige Anderson scored three times and added an assist to notch seven points in the win for Assumption.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 8-8 (5-4 Northeast-10), while Assumption improves to 11-5 (6-3 Northeast-10). Though Franklin Pierce's postseason odds will decrease with the loss, the Ravens still sit in the sixth and final qualifying spot for the Northeast-10 Championship with two games remaining. Franklin Pierce is even in the loss column with seventh-place Saint Michael's, though the Ravens would hold the head-to-head tiebreaker should the two finish tied. More will be known about postseason positioning following Saturday's contests around the league.

Assumption came out strong to start the first half and put home the only goal it would need on a bit of a fluke play in the eighth minute. Attacking down the right side, junior midfielder Kiley Colucci wound to fire as she stepped into the top of the circle, but she swung and missed on her attempt. The whiff threw off the timing of her defender enough for Colucci to collect the ball and go around the opposition. Now with just the keeper to beat, Colucci put her shot low and inside the right post for her team-leading 13th goal of the season.

The Greyhounds would double the lead to 2-0 before halftime on the sixth of the season for freshman forward Catie Laraway in the 26th minute. Amid a scramble in front of the goal, Anderson got her stick to the ball about five yards in front of the cage. Despite the chaos, she was able to shuffle the ball off to Laraway in front of the right post and the latter put it away for the score.

Outside of the first few minutes, the first half played relatively even, but Assumption came out firing on all cylinders again to start the second half and put the game away. The Greyhounds struck three times, all from Anderson, in the opening 8:42 of the second stanza to balloon the lead to the 5-0 final.

In the 37th minute, Anderson was the first to get her stick to the ball in the midst of another scramble out front and pushed it over the line for her fifth goal of the season. In the 39th minute, Williams was attempting to clear the ball from in front of her own cage, but Anderson was able to close quickly, take the ball away and score. In the 44th minute, Anderson capped her hat trick by finishing from five yards in front of the goal off of a feed from just off the left post by freshman forward Allison Sheahan. For Anderson, it was her first multiple-goal game of the season and her second career hat trick.

Assumption held a slim advantage of 24-20 in shot attempts, but was far more efficient at putting the ball on-target, as the Greyhounds finished with a 19-7 edge in shots on goal. Williams chalked up a season-high 14 saves, but was stuck with the loss (8-8) in front of the cage for Franklin Pierce. Senior goalkeeper Lauren Neilan stopped all seven shots on her goal to pick up the win (11-5) and her second shutout of the season for Assumption.

The Ravens return to the field on Wednesday, Nov. 12, when they travel to Saint Anselm for a Northeast-10 Conference contest. Game time is set for 4 p.m. at Grappone Stadium in Manchester, N.H.

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).