Men's Lacrosse Can't Hold Onto Early Lead in Tough 11-8 Setback at SNHU
Noonan and Dintaman have four points each for the Ravens
MANCHESTER, N.H. (April 19,
2011) -- The Franklin Pierce University men's lacrosse
team jumped out to an early 3-0 lead Tuesday night at Southern New
Hampshire, but couldn't hold onto the advantage as the Ravens
dropped a tough 11-8 decision at Larkin Field in Manchester. The
Ravens fell to 3-8 overall and 1-7 in the Northeast-10, while SNHU
improved to 4-7 and 3-5 in league play.
Midfielders Edward Noonan (Foxboro, Mass.) and
Ryan Dintaman (Northfield, Mass.) each tossed in a
team-high three goals for the Ravens. Noonan and Dintaman also
ended up with a four-point evening as they each assisted on another
goal during the contest. Sophomore Brendan Cahill (Hollis,
N.H.) and senior Jack Scanlan (Great Neck,
N.Y.) also added a tally apiece for Franklin Pierce.
Freshman goalie Tim Izzo (Trumbull, Conn.) made
nine saves in net for the Ravens despite suffering the loss to fall
to 3-8 on the year.
James Sabino led the Penmen with three goals, while Keith Merluzzo
totaled a five-point contest with a pair of goals and three
helpers. Brendan O'Brien made 14 saves in goal to earn the win.
Franklin Pierce threw in a pair of goals in the first quarter and
added another one early in the second period to jump out to a 3-0
lead. Cahill scored the first goal at the 8:16 mark of the first as
he took a pass from Dintaman and slipped a shot past O'Brien for a
man-up tally. Dintaman scored his first of three a little more than
a minute later to put the Ravens up by two. Scanlan then made it a
three-goal difference four minutes into the second with an
unassisted marker.
However, Southern New Hampshire answered with two goals in a
35-second span to cut its deficit to 3-2. Andrew Brown scored at
9:25 off a feed from Merluzzo, and Marc Navoco added an unassisted
goal at the 8:50 mark.
The teams would trade goals over the remaining minutes of the
first half. Dintaman scored a man-up goal for the Ravens at the
7:02 mark, following a nice feed from Noonan. Merluzzo scored his
first goal three minutes later, but Noonan closed out the half for
the Ravens with an unassisted marker with just :41 remaining to
send Franklin Pierce into halftime with a 5-3 advantage.
SNHU came out firing in the opening minutes of the third quarter
and tied it at 5-5, as Merluzzo assisted on goals by Sabino and
Navoco just four minutes into the stanza.
Noonan stemmed the tide with a tally to make it 6-5 Franklin
Pierce, but Sabino tossed in a goal moments later to knot the game
at six. A Dintaman goal put the Ravens back on top at 7-6 with a
little more than four minutes left in the quarter, but again, SNHU
had an answer as Brown scored with 1:55 to go in the stanza to tie
it at 7-7.
Southern New Hampshire finally broke on top just minutes into the
fourth quarter as the Penmen scored back-to-back goals to take a
9-7 advantage. They would not relinquish the lead the rest of the
way as they went on to earn the win. Sabino's final marker with
just :51 left sealed the victory.
Franklin Pierce returns to action Friday afternoon when the Ravens
play host to Saint Anselm at 4 p.m. at Sodexo Field.
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/FranklinPierceAthletics).