Men's Lacrosse Falls Behind Early in 16-6 Setback at #2 Adelphi

Dylan Leone with an assist, four grounders, and four caused TO's on the day

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. (March 22, 2014) – Junior attackman Eddie Noonan (Foxboro, Mass.) netted a team-high four goals, but it wasn't enough as the Franklin Pierce University men's lacrosse team dug too deep an early hole before falling, 16-6, to No. 2 nationally ranked Adelphi on Saturday at Motamed Field in Garden City, N.Y.

The Ravens had their three-game winning streak snapped in falling to 3-2 overall and 1-2 in the Northeast-10, while the Panthers improved to 6-0 and 3-0 in league play.

Nick Watson recorded a six-point afternoon for Adelphi with three goals (all three coming in the first quarter) and three assists, as the Panthers scored the opening 10 goals of the game over the first 34 minutes. Robert Rossi also helped lead the attack with a team-high four markers.

Watson scored his first two goals at the 7:37 and 4:01 marks of the first quarter, and capped the period with a man-up tally with 2:36 to go, as Adelphi took a 5-0 lead after one. The Panthers scored twice midway through the second, and Rossi followed with his first goal late in the frame to make it 8-0 at the half.

The Ravens didn't fold, though, and tried to claw back into it in the second half. Sophomore Brenden Caldeira (Sandwich, Mass.) got the Ravens on the board with 9:29 left in the third, and classmate Casey Burnett (Windham, N.H.) threw in a strike two-and-a-half minutes later.

Noonan chucked in all four of his goals in the fourth, including his third one with 6:16 remaining off a nice feed from middie Dylan Leone (Tewksbury, Mass.). However, Rossi struck twice in the fourth for Adelphi to keep the Panthers in the comfortable lead while cruising on for the win.

Noonan scored his four markers on just seven shots, while also logging three ground balls for the game. In addition to the assist on Noonan's third tally, Leone scooped up four grounders, while also causing four Adelphi turnovers. Both of those marks represented team-highs for the Ravens on the day.

Aidan Bennardo started in net for the Panthers, and turned aside four of five shots faced in 35 minutes of action to earn the win to move to 6-0 on the year. His counterpart, Ravens goalie Don Denman (Exeter, N.H.), made 12 saves on 28 shots faced in falling to 3-2 on the year. Denman, the reigning NE-10 goalie of the week, was under siege all day, as the Panthers rang up a 53-23 advantage in shots, and a 21-4 edge in face offs.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Tuesday looking to start a new winning streak when the Ravens play host to Assumption at 3 p.m. on Sodexo Field in Rindge.

For more information on Franklin Pierce men's lacrosse, please visit the team's page at http://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 http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store(.)