Beville, Shopshire Score Four Each; Strong First Half Sends Women’s Lacrosse Past AIC, 14-10

Beville, Shopshire Score Four Each; Strong First Half Sends Women’s Lacrosse Past AIC, 14-10

Coakley makes 12 saves

Kelly Kelly picked up a team-high six ground balls on Saturday against AIC.

RINDGE, N.H. (April 12, 2014) – Sophomore midfielder Lauren Beville (Jamesville, N.Y.) had a five-point first half on Saturday afternoon, with three goals and two assists, as the Franklin Pierce University women's lacrosse team built an 8-3 halftime lead en route to a 14-10 victory over American International in Northeast-10 Conference play at Sodexo Field. Beville added a second-half goal to finish with 4-2-6, while freshman attack Jessica Lawler scored three times in defeat for AIC.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 4-7 (3-6 Northeast-10), while American International falls to 4-9 (1-8 Northeast-10). Franklin Pierce forced AIC into 21 turnovers on Saturday, though the Ravens committed 16 of their own along the way, while finishing off four free-position attempts on the way to the win.

Franklin Pierce scored the game's first three goals over its first 5:43 to jump to a 3-0 lead it would never relinquish. Beville, who was the star of the first half, scored the first goal just 1:59 into the proceedings, while junior attack Madeline Shopshire (Hyannis, Mass.) found the net and sophomore attack Nicole Beliveau (Westfield, Mass.) put away a free-position shot as well. Sophomore midfielder Sydney DeArmond got AIC on the board at the 8:11 mark to make it a 3-1 game.

From there, the Ravens would take control over the middle stages of the first half, as they scored five straight goals over a span of 13:41 to balloon the lead to 8-1. Beville factored in on four of the five goals, as she scored twice, including a free-position shot, and also assisted on goals by Shopshire and sophomore defender Liana Roman (Springfield, Mass.). Lawler hit on a free-position attempt with 5:06 to play in the half and sophomore attack Riley Brennan struck 97 seconds before the intermission to cut the gap to 8-3 at halftime.

AIC briefly made a game of it to open the second, as sophomore midfielder Stefanie Dufresne scored twice in the opening 79 seconds of the second half and junior attack Carrie Davis added another goal 89 seconds into the stanza to pull the Yellow Jackets within two at 8-6. Franklin Pierce head coach Brianna Cronin called a quick timeout to refocus the squad, which spurred the Ravens to four straight goals over a span of 3:16, to claim a 12-6 lead just 5:44 into the half. Beville scored her only second-half goal to halt the AIC run, while Shopshire scored the third of her four goals on the day and junior midfielder Amanda Gauvin (Ashburnham, Mass.) notched her second goal of the afternoon.

Lawler scored her second of three goals on the day with 18:42 to play to cut the gap to 12-7, but Beliveau answered with a free-position score with 15:41 to play and then Franklin Pierce clamped down defensively. The game went without another goal over the next 10 minutes before Shopshire capped her day with a free-position goal with 5:21 to play to make it 14-7 and extend the run to 6-1. AIC scored three goals over the final 5:07, including a pair from junior attack Whitney McKay, to create the 14-10 final.

Defensively, freshman Kenady Kelly (Plymouth, N.H.) scooped up a team-best six ground balls for Franklin Pierce, while Beville added five to go with her six-point day. Junior midfielder Cheyenne Carden led AIC with six ground balls as well.

Junior goalkeeper Julia Coakley (Bridgewater, Mass.) made 12 saves against 22 shots on goal to pick up the win (4-7) in net for Franklin Pierce. Sophomore Lissy Doherty started and made nine saves against 19 shots over 43:36 to take the loss (4-9) between the pipes for American International. Freshman Alexis Torosian made five saves against nine shots over the remaining 16:24 for the Yellow Jackets.

The Ravens return to the field on Saturday, April 19, when they travel to Bentley for a Northeast-10 Conference contest. Game time is set for noon at Bentley University Turf Field in Waltham, Mass. Franklin Pierce next plays at home on Saturday, April 26, in the season finale against Le Moyne at 1 p.m.

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).