#6 Merrimack Runs Past Franklin Pierce 20-8

RINDGE, N.H.  (April 11, 2017) – The Franklin Pierce University men's lacrosse team hosted Northeast-10 Conference and no. 6 nationally-ranked Merrimack College on an unseasonably warm Tuesday afternoon at Sodexo Field as the Crimson and Grey suffered a 20-8 setback at the hands of the Warriors. The win moved the guests to 8-2 and 6-2 in league play while the Ravens tumble to 3-6 and 1-6 NE10.

Four Warrior athletes tallied three goals or more and were led by Seamus Ford and Tim Towler who scored four goals apiece. Raven junior attack Jack Carney (Dunbarton, N.H.) paced the Ravens offense with two ginos and Sean Delea (Hampstead, N.H.) added a marker and an assist.

Both teams took care of the rock on their possessions as the first quarter went turnover-less and each squad amassed a total of 18 miscues throughout the contest. Merrimack won 24-of-31 (77.4%) attempts from the face-off x and scooped up 36 groundballs to the Ravens 22.

Charlie Bertrand began the scoring for Merrimack at the 13:31 mark. A few possessions went by until Merrimack added on to their early lead as Michael O'Connell hooked up Ford with a catch and shoot opportunity from the close right wing. Ford cashed in on their connection to increase the Warriors advantage. Merrimack's game opening run continued as Eric Cobum and Tyler Liantonio teamed up off a clear and a fast break chance to move Merrimack ahead 3-0.

The Ravens rallied back with 7:22 left in the first when Ben Lassow (Mansfield, Conn.) dangled, dodged a defender on the right side and bounced a shot attempt into the cage by starting goalkeeper Edward Heller to cut the deficit to 3-1. Two minutes later Brad Chapdelanie (Goffstown, N.H.) sniped a top shelf shot after a successful clear by defender Robert Meyers (Pompton Lakes, N.J.) at the top of the point to make it a one goal game.

Merrimack would score five uncontested goals with two coming from Towler to end the quarter at 8-2. The second stanza was low scoring as both teams would net two scores with the two tallies coming off the sticks of Jacob Howes and Towler of the Warriors to move their lead to 10-2 at the midway point.  

The guests run of eight unanswered goals continued into the second half as Bertrand poured in a marker as a Raven penalty expired. Delea put in his lone score of the contest as he rolled off a screen and deposited a shot, high cheese into the back of the net. Merrimack would score four of the next six goals to take control of the game and eventually were victorious by 12 goals.

Connor Wacksman (Guilderland, N.Y.) stopped a season-high 15 shots in the loss while Heller made a team-best three saves in one half of play.

The Ravens head out on the road to Southern New Hampshire on Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. conference showdown.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). 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 men's lacrosse apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).