Stille nets four goals, Benn and Moirano score their first career tallies for the Ravens

Boxscore

RINDGE, N.H. (April 2, 2008) – Keene State College jumped out to a 12-3 lead early in the second half and then held off a determined Franklin Pierce University squad to earn a 17-12 women’s lacrosse victory in a non-conference match on Wednesday evening at a blustery Sodexho Field.

Senior Michelle Mazzotta (Cromwell, Conn./Mercy) led the Owls with a game-high five goals, but a trio of freshmen also played big roles for Keene State. Jamie Albert (Southington, Conn./Southington) had four goals and classmate Jill Kirk (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y./ Comsewogue) netted three for the Owls, while fellow freshman Jenny Lillis (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip) added three goals and an assist.

Freshmen also sparked the Raven offense, led by leading scorer Lauren Stille (North Quincy, Mass./North Quincy), who overcame a slow start to score four goals (all in the second half) to go along with two assists for a team-high six points. Classmate Jillian Benn (North Quincy, Mass./North Quincy) scored the first three goals of her collegiate career to finish with three points, while Ashley Moirano (South Burlington, Vt./South Burlington) notched her first career goal and added an assist for two points.

Franklin Pierce also received two goals from junior May Stoffer (New Hartford, Conn./ Watkinson) and a three-point effort from senior captain Celine Stamets (Sausalito, Calif./Mavin Catholic).

Keene State dominated the first 30 minutes of play, outscoring Franklin Pierce, 9-2, and holding a 13-9 edge in shots on goal. Freshman Emily Persano (Somers, Conn./Somers) began the scoring only 57 seconds into the game with her fourth of the year, and the Owls scored the first five goals of the game before Benn netted a pair to bring the Ravens back within three with 14:23 remaining in the half. Four consecutive KSC goals, including two by Mazzotta, gave the visitors a 9-2 lead headed into the half.

Franklin Pierce played well in the second half, outscoring Keene State by two, but the team’s rally fell a few goals short. After Keene State scored three of the first four goals of the half to take its biggest lead of the game (12-3) 3:28 into the half, Franklin Pierce scored six of the next eight goals to shrink the deficit to five (14-9) with 8:36 remaining. Five different players scored for the home team in the stretch, including two by Stoffer and Moirano’s first career tally.

Stille then took over offensively for Franklin Pierce, scoring the team’s final three goals in less than three minutes, but Keene State countered with three goals of its own down the stretch to secure the victory.

Junior Jen Gearing (Westfield, Mass./Westfield) started in net for Keene State, making seven saves on 11 shots in the first 33:28 of play. Freshman Meghan Ledoux (Standish, Maine/Bonny Eagle) came on to play the final 26:32, giving up eight goals but also turning away 12 shots to help her team to the win. For Franklin Pierce, freshman goaltender Chaniece Franklyn (Chappaqua, N.Y./Horace Greeley) recorded seven saves on 21 shots, while senior Michaela Sullivan (Arlington, Mass./Arlington) saw her first action of the year over the final 18:36 and made four saves.

Franklin Pierce (1-6, 0-4 NE-10) returns to Northeast-10 Conference play on Saturday afternoon, when the Ravens host Southern Connecticut State University at Sodexho Field at 3 p.m. Keene State (4-4, 0-0 LEC) travels to Rhode Island College on Saturday at 1 p.m.