MANCHESTER, N.H. (September 4, 2021) -- It was a stern test right out of the gate on Saturday for the Franklin Pierce University field hockey team, as the Ravens opened their 2021 season with a road non-conference contest against No. 3 nationally ranked Saint Anselm. Franklin Pierce struck first, courtesy of sophomore Silver Clukey (Winslow, Maine), but the Hawks rattled off six straight from there to run up a 6-1 victory. Sophomore Abbey Bevens and freshman Amanda Lewandowski had a goal and an assist each for Saint Anselm.

Franklin Pierce got the season started on the right foot, as the Ravens threw the first punch, just 3:29 into the contest, when Clukey and junior Alicia Hottleman (Mansfield, Mass.) put together a nifty give-and-go on the right-wing side. Clukey dished ahead to Hottleman deep on the right side, and then cut into the circle. Hottleman held for a beat, then found a lane to slip the ball back to Clukey, who quickly popped a shot which found the back of the cage.

The Ravens nearly took the 1-0 lead through to the end of the first quarter, but instead had the wind taken out of their sails as Saint Anselm drew level with just 16 seconds remaining in the stanza. With the ball still in their own half of the field with 30 seconds remaining, the Hawks quickly worked forward. Junior Maeve Murphy chipped the ball past a defender on the right side to open up some room for herself into the middle of the field. She then sent the ball ahead and into the circle for Lewandowski, who was able to redirect around the goalkeeper and directly into the path of senior McKenzie Robinson crashing the left post. Robinson had a gaping cage and put away her first collegiate goal.

Franklin Pierce then took an ill-advised yellow card in the middle of the second quarter, as a substitution infraction on a defensive corner led to junior captain Meghan Winn (Newburyport, Mass.) being sent to serve a five-minute penalty on behalf of her guilty teammate. The penalty proofed costly, as Saint Anselm took the lead for good during the ensuing advantage, with 1:58 remaining in the half. Junior Shelby Dunn sent a long pass up the middle and into the blender to get things started. Her feed found Murphy, who directed the ball off to the left to Lewandowski for the finish on what would stand as the game-winning goal.

Saint Anselm added the only goal of the third quarter as well, just 53 seconds after halftime, to take control of things. Senior Carly Lacasse had the initial shot on the play, from the right side, but bounced it off the right post. Bevens was on the scene in the goal mouth to clean up the rebound and make it 3-1.

The Hawks added three in the fourth to grow the final deficit to 6-1. Junior Avery Tucker struck in the 49^th minute, Bevens assisted on Emilie Martin's 54^th-minute tally, and sophomore Maddie Davis capped the scoring in the 57^th minute.

Under siege for much of the contest, junior MacKenzie Potvin (Goffstown, N.H.) finished with 10 saves against 16 shots in the losing effort in the Franklin Pierce net. Sophomore Mackenzie McConnell stopped two of three shots to pick up the win in the Saint Anselm cage.

The Ravens return to action on Wednesday, Sept. 8, when they hold their home opener against Northeast-10 Conference foe American International at 4 p.m.