EASTON, Mass. (March 17, 2021) -- The Franklin Pierce University women's lacrosse team made a statement to open its season on Wednesday afternoon, on the road at Stonehill. Back on the field for the first time in more than a year, the Ravens returned to play loudly, running up a 20-12 victory over the Skyhawks in Northeast-10 Conference play. It marked Franklin Pierce's first-ever win over Stonehill, in the 23^rd all-time meeting between the two. Junior attack Savannah Ernst (American Fork, Utah) led the way with five goals and three assists, while senior attack Caroline Lounsbury (Franklin, Mass.) added five goals of her own.

With the win, Franklin Pierce opens its season at 1-0 (1-0 NE10), while Stonehill starts at 0-1 (0-1 NE10). In 22 previous meetings between the two, Franklin Pierce had only held the deficit to single digits on four occasions, including a pair of one-goal defeats. For context, this is fewer than the number of games Stonehill has won by 20 or more goals in the series, a feat the Skyhawks have accomplished five times.

Things started a bit slow for the Ravens, as Stonehill scored the first two goals of the afternoon, before Ernst threw a free-position shot to the back of the net 2:27 in to put the Ravens on the board. Still though, Stonehill scored four of the first five goals and it looked like it might be more of the same between the two teams. The Skyhawks held a 5-3 lead just shy of eight minutes into the contest, and then the Ravens took control.

Franklin Pierce took the lead just under 11 minutes into the game when junior Megyn Ayotte (Guilford, Vt.) scored an unassisted goal, which marked the Ravens' third straight goal. Franklin Pierce would not lose the lead the rest of the way. Ayotte's goal came in the midst of a span of six straight goals for the Ravens, which was part of a larger, 10-1 run for the Ravens over the final 22 minutes of the first half. Lounsbury scored three of her five goals in the run, while Ayotte, Ernst and sophomore midfielder Katie Hadden (Newburyport, Mass.) added a pair apiece. Franklin Pierce took a 13-6 lead into halftime.

The Ravens would grow their lead even more in the second half, with goals from Lounsbury, Hadden, Ernst, Lounsbury again and a pair from junior attack Morgan Baxendale (Orchard Park, N.Y.) making up another run of six straight Franklin Pierce goals. The Ravens ran the lead as high as 12, at 19-7, before going on to the 20-12 victory.

Ernst (5-3-8) and Lounsbury (5-0-5) carried the heaviest loads for the Ravens offensively, while sophomore attack Gabby Oswald (Nedrow, N.Y.) added four points (3-1-4), and Ayotte (2-1-3), Baxendale (2-1-3) and Hadden (3-0-3) all chipped in three apiece. Defensively, graduate student Sarah Waldrep (North Andover, Mass.) led the way with four ground balls, while Ayotte and Hadden each caused three turnovers. Lounsbury snagged a team-best five draw controls.

In contrast, no Stonehill player was able to tally more than three points. A trio of Skyhawks led the team with three points apiece: freshman Molly Mae Hughes (3-0-3), sophomore Lydia Rudden (1-2-3) and junior Emma Sullivan (3-0-3). Hughes and Sullivan combined to produce half of Stonehill's goal total, but only one other Skyhawk was able to put home multiple goals. Defensively, Sullivan led all players with five ground balls, and caused a pair of turnovers for Stonehill as well. She would also collect a game-high 11 draw controls.

Sophomore goalkeeper Erin Blake (Southborough, Mass.) made seven saves against 19 shots to pick up the win (1-0) in net for Franklin Pierce. For Stonehill, senior Bailey Grant made the start in the crease, but did not make a save against the first five shots and was pulled from the game just 10:02 into the contest, with the score tied 5-5. Senior Kaleigh Wright (0-1) took over and was under siege the rest of the way. She would make 13 saves against 28 shots, but suffered the loss for the Skyhawks.

The Ravens are scheduled to compete again on Saturday, March 20, against Bentley at home. The game is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. at Sodexo Field in Rindge.