RINDGE, N.H. (April 18, 2021) -- Accounting for half of her team's offensive output, Savannah Ernst (American Fork, Utah) put the Franklin Pierce University women's lacrosse team on her back on Sunday afternoon at Sodexo Field. The junior's five-goal, six-point performance (5-1-6) led the way for the Ravens, who also got two goals apiece from juniors Megyn Ayotte (Guilford, Vt.) and Morgan Baxendale (Orchard Park, N.Y.) to squeak out a 10-9 victory over visiting Stonehill in Northeast-10 Conference play. Senior Shannon Hughes and junior Emma Sullivan scored a pair each for Stonehill in defeat.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 3-1 (3-1 NE10), while Stonehill falls to 3-5 (3-5 NE10).

Stonehill got the scoring started 90 seconds in, when freshman Molly Mae Hughes put away a free-position shot. It was the only time all day the Ravens would trail. Franklin Pierce rattled off the next three goals, including Ayotte's pair, to jump to a 3-1 lead 11:31 into the contest. Stonehill would answer with a run where it scored three of the next four goals, including two from Shannon Hughes, to knot the game at 4-4 with 14:06 remaining in the first half.

From there, the game slipped into an extended goal drought, as more than 11 minutes would pass before the next score. Ernst slipped a pass out front for sophomore Gabby Oswald (Nedrow, N.Y.), who popped home her fifth goal of the season with 3:05 left in the frame to give the Ravens a 5-4 lead heading into halftime. Oswald's goal would wind up being the one which put Franklin Pierce ahead to stay.

Franklin Pierce scored the first three goals of the second half, including two from Ernst in the opening five minutes of the stanza, to push the lead out as high as four goals, at 8-4. The Ravens would also lead by four at 9-5, before Stonehill made a late run. Sullivan netted back-to-back goals near the midpoint of the half to cut the deficit to two, at 9-7.

With 12:51 to play, Baxendale buried her second of the day, as she finished off a slick feed from senior Caroline Lounsbury (Franklin, Mass.) for what turned out to be an important insurance marker. Stonehill cut the gap back down to 10-8 with 11 minutes to play, as sophomore Lydia Rudden set up fellow sophomore Katie Julien.

It was all defense and turnovers from there, as the game went into another long stretch with no scoring. Stonehill senior keeper Kaleigh Wright made a pair of saves, including a big stop on a free-position by Ayotte, to keep the Skyhawks in the game. In between the two stops, Ernst hit the pipe as the Ravens bid for another insurance marker. Stonehill struggled to generate chances at the other end of the field, and things were pretty much sealed when junior Kendall Fressle put a free-position shot wide with 32 seconds to play and sophomore Amelia D'Urso (Katonah, N.Y.) scooped up the ground ball for Franklin Pierce.

Stonehill forced a turnover and got a free-position goal from senior Olivia Pino with 12 seconds to play, but by then it was too late, as the Ravens held on for the 10-9 victory.

Defensively, D'Urso and junior Jacklyn Keane (Framingham, Mass.) collected four ground balls apiece, which was the game high, while D'Urso and graduate student Sarah Waldrep (North Andover, Mass.) each caused a pair of turnovers. Ernst led the Ravens with five draw controls.

For Stonehill, Molly Mae Hughes and Sullivan each picked up three ground balls, while Shannon Hughes caused two turnovers. Sullivan led all players with nine draw controls.

Sophomore netminder Erin Blake (Southborough, Mass.) finished with eight saves against 17 shots on her goal to pick up the win for Franklin Pierce (2-1). Wright (1-5) collected 10 saves against 20 shots in a losing effort for Stonehill at the other end.

The Ravens are scheduled to return to action on Tuesday, April 20, when they travel to Saint Michael's for a 3:30 p.m. start.