PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. (April 28, 2018) – Surrendering 15 first-half goals -- including a 9-4 run to end the stanza -- proved to be a hole too big for the Franklin Pierce University women's lacrosse team in its season finale on Saturday afternoon at Pace Stadium. The Ravens put up 16 goals of their own on the day, but suffered a 26-16 loss on the road at Pace in Northeast-10 Conference play.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce concludes its campaign at 6-9 (4-9 NE10), while Pace improves to 13-4 (10-3 NE10) and will head into next week's NE10 Championship as the third seed.

Saturday's game marked the final collegiate game for twin sisters and senior midfielders Caitlin Sweeney (Shirley, N.Y.) and Briana Sweeney (Shirley, N.Y.), who each finished among the most-prolific offensive threats in program history. Caitlin Sweeney capped her career with a six-point outing, on five goals and one assist, which ran her career totals to 254 points, on 194 goals and 60 assists. She finishes her four years in Rindge ranked second all-time in program history in all three categories.

For her part, Briana Sweeney added three goals on the day, to push her career stat line to 214 points, on 165 goals and 49 assists. She wraps up her time in a Franklin Pierce uniform ranked third in school history in goals, as well as fourth in both points and assists.

Pace opened the game on a 5-1 run, which featured two goals and an assist from senior attack Casey Gelderman, as well as a goal and two assists from senior attack Abby Haimson. The Ravens cut the gap down to 6-4, with a mini, 3-1 run of their own, including a pair of goals from Caitlin Sweeney.

Unfortunately for Franklin Pierce, Pace would take control of the game from there. The Setters scored nine of the final 13 goals of the first half to surge to a 15-8 halftime lead. Gelderman added three more goals in the stretch, as part of a nine-point day (7-2-9), which led all players. Junior attack Courtney Pabst scored all three of her goals in the run and finished with a four-point afternoon (3-1-4).

Franklin Pierce held its own in the second half, but Pace still posted an 11-8 scoring margin on the way to finishing off the 26-16 victory. After trailing by seven at the half, the Ravens would get no closer than a six-goal deficit through the entirety of the second half.

In addition to Caitlin Sweeney (5-1-6) and Briana Sweeney (3-0-3) for the Ravens, freshman attack Caroline Lounsbury (Franklin, Mass.) added five points on four goals and an assist. Senior attack Anna Wilbert (Bohemia, N.Y.) scored twice and dished out an assist to tally three points in her collegiate finale. Sophomore midfielder Sarah Waldrep (North Andover, Mass.) tied for the game high with three ground balls, while Caitlin Sweeney piled up 11 draw controls to lead all players. Waldrep also caused three turnovers on the day.

Pace got at least three points from seven different players on Saturday: Haimson (1-3-4), senior midfielder Stephanie Chadnick (4-0-4), Pabst (3-1-4), senior midfielder Emily Ankabrandt (2-1-3), freshman midfielder Emma Rafferty (3-0-3), senior midfielder Angela Kelly (1-3-4) and Gelderman (7-2-9). Senior defender Najmah James matched Waldrep with three ground balls, while Gelderman and sophomore attack Mary Kate Lonegan collected seven draw controls each. Pabst led all players with four caused turnovers.

Senior goalkeeper Madison Murray (Berkley, Mich.) started and logged the opening17:31 in the crease for Franklin Pierce. She finished with just one save against 11 shots on goal and was charged with the loss (4-7). Over the final 42:29, sophomore netminder Casey Butera (West Milford, N.J.) stopped 10 of 26 shots.

At the other end of the field, senior Jillian Cross (13-4) logged 43:49 in front of the Pace net and made five saves against 18 shots on goal to pick up the win. Freshman Jessica Monaco added two saves against five shots over the remaining 16:11.

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