Rogers notches defensive save for third straight game

RINDGE, N.H. (October 4, 2012) – Freshman midfielder Katrina Squeri scored twice, including the game-winning goal, on Thursday night to lead No. 7 nationally ranked Merrimack over the Franklin Pierce University field hockey team, 8-1, in Northeast-10 Conference play at Sodexo Field. Junior forward Chanelle Letarte (Lunenburg, Mass.) scored the lone goal in defeat for Franklin Pierce.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 3-10 (1-5 Northeast-10), while Merrimack improves to 10-2 (4-1 Northeast-10).

The game went scoreless through the first 15 minutes, before Merrimack popped home three goals in a span of 7:16 to take a lead it would never relinquish. At the 15:33 mark, junior forward Candice Waldie created her own partial breakaway on the right-wing side of the circle. She wound and fired a shot that Franklin Pierce freshman goalkeeper Sarah Cote (Athol, Mass.) got a piece of, but the ball still wound up in the cage for Waldie's team-leading 15th goal of the season.

At the 20:12 mark, Squeri scored her first of the game, and third of the campaign, when she tracked down a loose ball along the end line on the left-wing side of the circle and snuck a backhand in from the sharp angle. At the 22:49 mark, junior midfielder Jessica Otis brought the ball into the circle from the right side and beat Cote inside the near post for her sixth of the year.

Letarte stopped the bleeding for Franklin Pierce 3:23 after the Otis goal. Junior midfielder Alesia Gleason (Harwich, Mass.) created the scoring play from the midfield, as she wound and drove the ball towards the cage. Letarte was stationed in the middle of the circle and got a stick to the ball to deflect it to the back of the net for her second goal of the season.

Merrimack would take all the drama out of the game with five second-half goals to win going away. Senior forward April Daugherty reclaimed the four-goal lead for the Warriors when she tracked down a loose ball on the right side and took a shot from the low angle. Cote had the angle cut off, but the ball hit her pads, slipped between them and trickled across the goal line for Daugherty's 13th goal of the year.

Senior midfielder Jamie Spano, Squeri and freshman forward Taylor Ledwith all added insurance markers down the stretch to create the 8-1 final.

Cote made seven saves against 15 shots on her cage and took the loss (3-10) in net for Franklin Pierce. Junior midfielder Jessica Rogers (Uxbridge, Mass.) added a defensive save, her third in as many games.

Senior goalkeeper Kerri Bergquist made three saves against four shots on goal at the other end of the field to pick up the win (10-2) between the pipes for Merrimack. Junior back Sarah Dunbar picked up her team-leading third defensive save of the season.

The Ravens return to the field on Saturday, Oct. 6, when they travel to No. 4 Massachusetts Lowell for a Northeast-10 Conference contest. Game time is set for 1 p.m. at Cushing Field in Lowell, Mass. Franklin Pierce next plays at home on Wednesday, Oct. 10 against Bentley at 3:30 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 field hockey apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' brand new online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).