Don Denman makes 14 saves in tough setback

RINDGE, N.H. (April 9, 2014) – Southern New Hampshire goalie Morgan Weireter turned aside 20 shots Wednesday to backstop the Penmen to a 7-4 win over the Franklin Pierce University men’s lacrosse team at Sodexo Field in Rindge. The Ravens dropped their second straight in falling to 5-4 overall and 3-4 in the Northeast-10, while SNHU improved to 3-6 and 3-4 in league play.

Franklin Pierce held a commanding 47-29 advantage in shots, but Weireter was able to get his paddle on several. Most of the Ravens shots, though, came from outside prime scoring range, as they could not muscle their way inside for many close looks throughout.

Erik Kelly (Tewksbury, Mass.) threw in a pair of goals to pace the Ravens, while Casey Burnett (Windham, N.H.) and Malcolm Sutton (Hooksett, N.H.) added a marker apiece. Burnett’s goal came on nine shots, while Sutton’s tally was the first of his career.

Six different Penmen scored, including two from Jeremy Buckley. His first strike came with just :04 left in the first half to make it 4-2 at the break, and then essentially put the game out of reach with 11:15 remaining on a goal to make it 6-3.

Buckley’s second goal came early in the fourth quarter and just minutes after the Penmen had killed off a two-minute, man-down opportunity late in the third to protect a 5-3 lead. Ryan Gruett’s illegal body check call with 2:58 remaining in the frame gave the Ravens an opportunity to whittle away at the deficit, but SNHU’s penalty kill kept Franklin Pierce at bay by limiting it to just two shot attempts over the 120 seconds of extra-man time.

Kelly’s second goal with 6:14 left in the fourth pulled Franklin Pierce to within 6-4, but Rob Murray – who assisted on Buckley’s goal earlier in the period – threw in an unassisted tally less than a minute later.

Franklin Pierce tried frantically to get back in the game in the final few minutes, but Weireter came up with several crucial stops to halt the Ravens.

Franklin Pierce held a 29-20 edge in ground balls, and forced SNHU into 19 turnovers, while only committing 11 themselves. The Penmen, however, countered by tossing in a pair of man-up markers, while limiting Franklin Pierce to an 0-for-3 clip on its man-up attempts. The other area where Southern New Hampshire controlled was the faceoffs by holding a 10-5 advantage, which allowed them to set up their controlled set plays that took time off the clock and denied the Ravens much opportunity to get into an offensive flow.

Junior goalie Don Denman (Exeter, N.H.) held up solid in goal by making 14 saves to keep his Ravens in it, but ultimately was saddled with the loss to fall to 5-4. Weireter improved to 3-6.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Saturday when the Ravens play host to defending national champion Le Moyne at 12 p.m. on Sodexo Field.

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(.)