Beville Nets Four, Women’s Lacrosse Rallies from 9-2 Deficit, but Falls to Saint Michael’s, 14-12

Gauvin scores twice, adds assist, three groundballs, two caused turnovers

RINDGE, N.H. (April 8, 2014) – In a game of runs on Tuesday afternoon, the Franklin Pierce University women's lacrosse team erased a 9-2 first-half deficit, but then surrendered three straight goals and ultimately fell, 14-12, to Saint Michael's in Northeast-10 Conference play at Sodexo Field. Sophomore midfielder Lauren Beville (Jamesville, N.Y.) led the way with four goals for Franklin Pierce, while senior attack Crystal King piled up seven points on four goals and three assists for Saint Michael's.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 3-7 (2-6 Northeast-10), while Saint Michael's improves to 6-2 (4-2 Northeast-10).

The game opened with the two teams trading a pair of goals. Saint Michael's struck first, with senior attack Shannon Murphy and junior attack Kate Boyer staking the Purple Knights to a 2-0 lead 3:51 in. Franklin Pierce responded, as Beville scored her 17th of the season off an assist from junior midfielder Amanda Gauvin (Ashburnham, Mass.), who then scored a goal of her own to tie the game 6:43 into the proceedings.

From there, Saint Michael's would take control of the middle stages of the first half, as the Purple Knights rattled off seven straight goals over a stretch of 10:29 to jump to a 9-2 lead with 12:35 to play before halftime. King dished out two assists in the run, before putting away the first of her four goals on the afternoon. Also for the Purple Knights, Murphy scored twice more to cap her three-goal day, while junior attack Courtney Piper added a goal and an assist.

The Ravens were able to battle back and find a 5-0 run of their own over the final 7:51 of the half to cut the gap to 9-7 heading into the halftime break. Beville and Gauvin each scored again in the stretch, while junior attack Madeline Shopshire (Hyannis, Mass.) put away her team-leading 20th goal of the season. Junior midfielder Megan Raposa (Tiverton, R.I.) scored two of her three goals during the run, pushing her season total to 11.

Franklin Pierce made it six straight goals when Shopshire found the net on a free-position attempt 2:39 into the second half to cut the deficit to one goal at 9-8. Saint Michael's finally found an answer when King scored the first of her three second-half goals to make it 10-8 with 24:46 to play.

Beville put away a feed from Shopshire just 32 seconds after the King goal to make it a one-goal game again, and Shopshire netted her third of the day another 56 seconds later to bring the Ravens all the way back even at 10-10.

The game would remain 10-10 for over five minutes, before Saint Michael's scored back-to-back goals only 13 seconds apart to jump to a 12-10 lead it would never relinquish. Boyer capped her three-goal day with 17:36 to play, before King struck again with 17:23 remaining.

Again the game went without offense for an extended period before junior attack Kim Liberty scored just her third goal of the season to make it three straight scores for the Purple Knights, who now led 13-10 with 10:31 to play. Raposa finished a free-position attempt with 9:56 to play, King capped her seven-point day with 7:38 to play and Beville scored in transition of a feed from freshman midfielder Kenady Kelly (Plymouth, N.H.) to cap the scoring and create the 14-12 final before Saint Michael's bled the final five minutes off the clock.

Junior goalkeeper Julia Coakley (Bridgewater, Mass.) logged 56 minutes over two stints in goal on Thursday afternoon and made nine saves against 20 shots on goal while taking the loss (3-7) for Franklin Pierce. Freshman Denise Hunt (Hull, Mass.) played the remaining four minutes and did not record a save against three shots on net. At the other end of the field, sophomore Casey Curtin went the distance for Saint Michael's, made nine saves against 21 shots on net and picked up the win (5-1) between the pipes.

The Ravens return to the field on Saturday, April 12, when they remain home to host American International in a Northeast-10 Conference contest. Game time is set for 3 p.m. at Sodexo Field.

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 women's lacrosse apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).