Bentley Sinks Men's Lacrosse in Final Second of Third OT 9-8

Erik Kelly scores tying goal with :40 left in regulation

RINDGE, N.H. (April 20, 2013) – Bentley’s Matt Brigham scored on a diving attempt out from behind the right post of the net with :01 remaining in the third overtime to lift the Falcons to an amazing 9-8 win over the Franklin Pierce University men’s lacrosse team on Saturday afternoon at Sodexo Field.

Bentley improved to 4-7 overall and 4-6 in the Northeast-10, while the Ravens dipped to 4-8 and 3-7 in league play.

Brigham’s goal came just moments after the Ravens fired off a pair of potential game-winning shots on Bentley goalie Jared Dillon at the other end of the field. However, Dillon stood strong and Bentley’s clearing attempt was successful, thus setting up a set play which Brigham took the ball from behind the goal, weaved his way to the right post, and while falling down slipped a shot past Franklin Pierce goalie Don Denman (Exeter, N.H.) into the lower left corner of the net.

There weren’t many high quality scoring chances for either side in the three overtimes. However, regulation play was a different story. 

Brigham’s winner was Bentley’s 68^th shot of the game as the Falcons put 31 on goal and held a 68-26 advantage in that category.

Despite allowing the winning goal, Denman was far from the problem for the Ravens in the game as he turned aside 22 shots, marking the second highest total of his career and the third time this season he has stood up to making at least 20 saves in a game.

There was uncertainty if Denman would even finish the game in the third quarter when he took a shot attempt to an unprotected area of his body, which sent him to the turf for several minutes. He was forced to leave the game, but returned just 33 seconds later to continue backstopping Franklin Pierce to a potential victory.

The game went to overtime thanks to the efforts of sophomore midfielder Erik Kelly (Tewksbury, Mass.), who knotted the score at 8-8 for the Ravens with just :40 remaining in regulation as he took a pass near midfield, sprinted all the way into the offensive zone and fired a strike past Dillon that caused the Franklin Pierce bench to erupt in celebration.

There was also a slashing penalty called on Bentley during the scoring play, which gave the Ravens a man-up opportunity the remainder of regulation and the first 20 seconds of overtime, but Franklin Pierce could not convert in the situation.

Kelly’s marker, which was his second of two on the day, capped a 5-1 run by the Ravens, which spanned the final three quarters after Bentley had gone up 7-3 midway through the second. 

Bentley was able to jump out to the large lead thanks to several Franklin Pierce penalties – seven for the game – and by taking complete control in the face-off circle – 19-3 advantage for the game. 

After sophomore attackman Kevin Dargin’s (Littleton, Mass.) second goal of the game -- just 20 seconds into the quarter which staked Franklin Pierce to a 3-2 lead – the Falcons reeled off five-straight markers, including three from Steve Caditz, who answered Dargin’s goal just 39 seconds later to tie it up at 3-all. Brady Palmer factored into a pair of goals, including scoring one at the 13:08 mark of the second, and then assisting on Brendan Murphy’s goal with 10:11 remaining in the period.

Franklin Pierce got its footing back late in the quarter and Kelly and Dargin threw in back-to-back strikes to pull the Ravens to within 7-5 heading into halftime.

Dargin’s three goals on the day gave him 25 for the season, and in the process, pushed his team-leading point total to 32. He became just the 11^th player in program history to top 30 points in a season and his current total is the 10^th highest for a single season in program history. 

The Ravens took that momentum into the second half and scored twice in the third, including goals from freshmen Casey Burnett (Windham, N.H.) and Brenden Caldeira (Sandwich, Mass.), to tie it up.

Bentley regained the lead at 8-7 a little more than two minutes into the fourth on a goal by Tim Matheson. Franklin Pierce thought it had the equalizer with 5:00 to go as Burnett slammed home a diving shot right in front of the net, but the referees determined he was in the crease before it off and nullified the tally. 

Murphy and Steve Taylor opened the scoring with a pair of goals for Bentley a little more than five minutes apart in the first quarter, but Dargin and Burnett knotted it at 2-2 before the end of the period with a pair of late tallies. 

Franklin Pierce returns to action next Saturday when the Ravens close out their 2013 season by traveling to New York to face the Pace University Setters.

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(.)