L'Heureux nets goal, Nyzio posts shutout

RINDGE, N.H. (October 22, 2011) – Senior forward Lauren L'Heureux (Sanford, Maine) scored the game-winning goal just 70 seconds into the contest on Saturday afternoon as the Franklin Pierce University field hockey team posted a 2-0 victory over Assumption in Northeast-10 Conference play at Sodexo Field to wrap up the third seed in the upcoming Northeast-10 Championship. Senior goalkeeper Brittany Nyzio (Attleboro, Mass.) made five saves to post her second shutout of the season.

With the win, Franklin Pierce wraps up the regular season at 10-8 (7-3 Northeast-10), while Assumption closes its season at 1-14 (1-9 Northeast-10). The Ravens will host the sixth seed, which will be either Stonehill or Adelphi, on Wednesday, Oct. 20 in the quarterfinal round of the Northeast-10 Championship. Game time is still to be determined. The third-place finish is the best in program history.

After wrapping up pregame Senior Day ceremonies to honor the team's seven-player senior class, the Ravens wasted no time opening the scoring, as L'Heureux picked up her fifth of the season just 1:10 into the contest. In the aftermath of a penalty corner, senior forward Kim Jaksina (Townsend, Mass.) had the ball at the top of the circle and sent a pass toward the goal. L'Heureux took the pass near the penalty spot, turned and fired a shot that beat Assumption freshman goalkeeper Lauren Neilan inside the right post.

From there, the game remained 1-0 until the final five minutes, though Franklin Pierce dominated the run of play to the tune of advantages of 27-8 in shot attempts, 12-5 in shots on goal and 13-4 in penalty corners.

The Ravens finally made it 2-0 and effectively closed out the game with just 3:35 to play in regulation, when freshman forward Courtney Kelly (Plymouth, N.H.) notched her second goal in as many games. With the ball and a little maneuvering space in front of the goal, her initial shot was saved by Neilan, but the rebound came right back to Kelly's stick and her second chance would not be denied, as she put home her second goal of the campaign.

Nyzio's five-save shutout was the ninth of her career, extending her own program record. The win (9-6) was her ninth of the season, establishing a new career-best and tying her with Brandi Guertin '06 for the single-season school record, which was originally set in 2003. It was also the 25th career victory for Nyzio, also extending her own program record.

Neilan made 10 saves against the 12 shots on her cage, but suffered the loss (0-11) between the pipes for Assumption.

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).