Women's Lacrosse Rallies Late But Not Enough as Ravens Fall 16-15 in Overtime to Saint Michael's
Ravens score two man-down goals in the final minute to send game into extra session
RINDGE, N.H. (April 6, 2010) – The Franklin Pierce
University women’s lacrosse team staged a late rally on
Tuesday night, but it wasn’t enough as the Ravens fell to
Saint Michael’s, 16-15, in overtime at Sodexo Field in
Rindge. The Ravens fell to 3-5 overall and 1-3 in the Northeast-10,
while the Purple Knights improved to 1-5 and 1-2 in league play.
Franklin Pierce got four goals from Jordan Baillargeon (Westfield, Mass.), who also had two assists for a six-point evening. Baillargeon’s final goal of the game sparked a furious two-goal rally by the Ravens in the final 26 seconds of regulation to force a 14-14 tie and send the game into overtime. Lauren Stille (North Quincy, Mass.) got the equalizer in regulation with just 14 seconds left, as both goals came on man-down situations for the Ravens. Stille had a strong offensive game for Franklin Pierce as she notched a trio of goals on the evening.
Freshman Courtney Weber (Centerport, N.Y.), who had two goals on the night, put the Ravens on top, 15-14, just 22 seconds into the first overtime session with a shot that she fired past the Saint Michael’s goalkeeper’s stick handle.
Neither team scored the rest of the first overtime session, but the Purple Knights got two unanswered goals in the second session to pull off the come-from-behind victory. Alee Ramos scored her third goal of the game with 2:27 left in the frame to knot it at 15, and Sarah Gilroy put St. Mike’s on top for good with a tally with just 37 seconds remaining.
Julia Heald led all scorers with five goals for the Purple Knights. Sandra Palumbo made 20 saves in the contest to earn her first of the season. Her counterpart, Franklin Pierce goalkeeper Jillian Bolduc (Atkinson, N.H.), made 12 saves in suffering the loss.
Franklin Pierce did collect 42 groundballs to Saint Michel’s 34, and had fewer turnovers (19) than the Purple Knights (22).
Franklin Pierce scored the game’s first two goals in the opening five minutes before the two teams settled into trading goal for goal over the next several minutes. Baillargeon’s tally at the 5:51 mark of the half extended the Ravens lead to 5-3. However, Saint Michael’s scored the final three goals of the half, including tallies from Ramos, Eliza Scoba and Spenser Wolfe, to take a 6-5 lead into halftime.
Franklin Pierce wasted no time in retaking the lead as the Ravens scored the first four goals of the second half to build a 9-6 advantage. Jillian Benn (North Quincy, Mass.) scored a little more than 90 seconds into the stanza and Christine McKay (Norwood, Mass.) followed 30 seconds later with a marker of her own. Baillargeon tossed another one in at the 21:41 mark and Weber got her first of the game at the 18:30 mark.
It was then Saint Michael’s turn to answer and it did by getting five-consecutive goals to open up an 11-9 lead. The teams would go back and forth exchanging goals for the next several minutes before Stille notched a pair in a span of 36 seconds to tie the game at 12-12.
Heald and Joan Colloton each scored inside the five-minute mark to put the Purple Knights back up by two at 14-12, thus leading into the exciting finish that ensued.
Franklin Pierce returns to action Thursday night when the Ravens travel to face Southern New Hampshire at 7 p.m. in Manchester. The Ravens are back home on Saturday when they play host to Stonehill at 1 p.m. in Sodexo Field.
For more information on Franklin Pierce women’s lacrosse, please visit the team’s page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.)