RINDGE, N.H. (August 31, 2018) – It was not necessarily pretty, but it got the job done. The Franklin Pierce University field hockey team dominated stretches of play at home in its season opener on Friday afternoon, en route to a 13-7 advantage in shot attempts. More impressively, the crimson and grey totaled a 13-5 edge in penalty corners. Still though, the Ravens went into the final 10 minutes at Sodexo Field without a goal, and on the short end of a 1-0 score line against visiting St. Thomas Aquinas. Franklin Pierce found its resiliency from there though, as the Ravens utilized the final two of their 13 corners to pop a pair of goals and snatch away a 2-1 victory.

With the non-conference victory, Franklin Pierce opens the season at 1-0, while St. Thomas Aquinas falls to 0-1.

The first half was largely lacking for scoring chances on either side, as the two teams combined for just three shots on goal, all of which were saved. On the other side of halftime, the Ravens nearly struck for first blood on their ninth corner of the day, in the 43^rd minute. Injecting from the left side, freshman back Julianne Sacco (Southborough, Mass.) sent the ball to the top of the circle for senior forward Ashley Silva (Laconia, N.H.), who stopped it for senior midfielder Raegan Moulton (Baldwinville, Mass.). Moulton dished the ball to the right for junior midfielder Allison Collins (Sandown, N.H.), who stepped into a shot from there. Collins beat everybody with her shot, but rang it off the far post and the game remained scoreless.

Instead, it was St. Thomas Aquinas which opened the scoring, in the 54^th minute. With possession of the ball, senior forward Jacqueline Dowling was cutting from left to right as she entered the top of the circle. As she made her move, the ball appeared to touch off of Dowling's foot, but if it did so, it went unnoticed and un-whistled by the officials. Two steps later, Dowling uncorked a shot through a mass of traffic in the center of the circle. The screen left Franklin Pierce sophomore goalkeeper Olivia Barnes (Greenwich, N.Y.) with little chance to make a save, and the ball wound up in the back of the cage to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead.

Despite the suddenly bleak outlook, the Ravens battled back in the final 10 minutes. After coming up empty 11 times, Franklin Pierce picked up goals off of its final two corner attempts of the afternoon, to surge to the 2-1 victory. The 10^th corner attempt, in the 61^st minute, did not yield a goal directly, but a goalmouth scramble led to a penalty stroke. Moulton took the stroke and lifted the ball into the left side of the net for her first goal of the season, to even the score with 9:26 to play.

The Ravens cashed in again just 3:04 later, in the 64^th minute. On a similar play to her earlier opportunity, Franklin Pierce set up Collins for a shot on the right side. The shot was blocked before it got to the cage, but proved fruitful anyway. Freshman midfielder Feline van Doorn (Barendrecht, Netherlands) tracked down the loose ball on the right side and centered for senior forward Dayna Kowesky (Leominster, Mass.) in the goalmouth. Kowesky's shot popped up and over St. Thomas Aquinas freshman goalkeeper Suzanne Clarke and landed in the net to give the Ravens the lead with 6:22 to play.

Franklin Pierce staved off one final corner attempt by the Spartans in the final five minutes, including the last of four saves for Barnes, to nail down the comeback victory.

Barnes (1-0) made four saves against five shots to pick up the win in net for Franklin Pierce. Clarke (0-1) finished with five saves against seven shots in a losing effort for St. Thomas Aquinas.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (https://www.fpuraves.com). 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 (https://www.fpuravens.com/store).