Nash puts home four goals after halftime; Baillargeon finishes with 2-3-5

RINDGE, N.H. (March 29, 2011) – Junior attacker Brianna Nash (Oceanside, N.Y.) scored all four of her goals in the second half on Tuesday afternoon, including two in the final 12 minutes, as the Franklin Pierce University women's lacrosse team pulled away for a 14-11 road victory over Saint Michael's in Northeast-10 Conference play at Duffy Field. Senior attacker Jordan Baillargeon (Westfield, Mass.) led Franklin Pierce with five points on the afternoon, while four different Saint Michael's players tallied three points apiece.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 5-1 (2-1 Northeast-10), while Saint Michael's falls to 1-6 (0-3 Northeast-10).

The first half featured one distinct run by each team on the way to a 5-5 tie heading into halftime. Franklin Pierce opened with four of the first five goals over the opening 11:10, as four different Ravens found the back of the net. Baillargeon capped the run with her 15th goal of the season off a free-position shot after assisting on a goal by sophomore midfielder Lindsey Leach (Hamden, Conn.) earlier in the period.

From there, Saint Michael's scored four of the remaining five goals over the final 16:38 of the stanza to knot things up heading into the intermission. Junior attacker Eliza Scoba scored twice in the run, pushing her team-leading goal total to 16. Scoba also assisted on the lone Saint Michael's goal during Franklin Pierce's 4-1 run earlier in the half, leaving her as one of the four Purple Knights who finished with three points.

Franklin Pierce would hold Scoba, the Purple Knights' leading scorer, off the scoresheet entirely in the second half as the Ravens took the lead for good. Saint Michael's opened the scoring in the second half, with the first career goal for freshman defender Caroline Casper, before Franklin Pierce scored five of the next six goals to surge to a 10-7 lead. Nash scored her first two goals of the game in that stretch, while Leach added her second of three goals and Baillargeon chipped in a goal and an assist.

Saint Michael's got back-to-back goals from senior midfielder Elizabeth Siekman and senior attacker Joan Colloton 55 seconds apart near the midpoint of the half to close the gap to 10-9, but was unable to draw level. Nash scored another pair of goals within two minutes of Colloton's goal and junior midfielder Christine McKay (Norwood, Mass.) and Leach would tack on goals down the stretch as the Ravens finished the game on a 4-2 run to create the 14-11 final.

In addition to the offensive exploits of Baillargeon (2-3-5), Nash (4-0-4) and Leach (3-0-3), sophomore midfielder Courtney Weber (Centerport, N.Y.) contributed three points on a goal and an assist off the bench for Franklin Pierce in the victory. Three other Ravens, including McKay, finished with a goal and an assist for two points.

On the other side of the ball, junior defender Kim Jaksina (Townsend, Mass.) created problems for Saint Michael's all day long, as she led Franklin Pierce with four caused turnovers and five ground balls. In addition, both Jaksina and senior midfielder Jill Benn (North Quincy, Mass.) each collected four draw controls.

For Saint Michael's, four different players finished with the identical line of two goals and an assist for three points: Colloton, Scoba, Siekman and sophomore midfielder Kait Newdorf. No other Purple Knight picked up more than one point in the game.

Defensively for Saint Michael's, Siekman picked up four ground balls, while sophomore defender Caitlin Mahoney and junior goalkeeper Sandy Palumbo collected three each. Mahoney and senior midfielder Sarah Gilroy each caused a pair of turnovers.

Junior goalkeeper Jill Bolduc (Atkinson, N.H.) made eight saves in front of the net for Franklin Pierce to pick up the win (5-1). Palumbo did one better with nine saves, but took the loss (1-6) for Saint Michael's.

Franklin Pierce posted a 31-23 advantage in shots and held an 18-15 edge in ground balls in the game. The Ravens were successful on 17 of 23 (73.9%) clear attempts and finished 3-for-8 on free-position shots. Saint Michael's went 15-for-21 (71.4%) on clear attempts and 1-for-6 on free-position shots.

The Ravens return to the field on Thursday, March 31, when they travel to Keene State for a non-conference contest. Game time is set for 4 p.m. at Owl Athletic Complex in Keene, N.H.

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).