RINDGE, N.H. (September 8, 2021) -- Goals on either side of halftime allowed the Franklin Pierce University field hockey team to build a 2-1 lead it would hold into the final six minutes of play on Wednesday afternoon. It would not be enough for the Ravens though, as American International struck in the 55^th minute, and again in overtime, to snatch away a 3-2 victory in the Northeast-10 Conference opener for both teams at Sodexo Field. Freshman Logan Shunney scored her first two collegiate goals for AIC, while sophomore Anna Beck (Attleboro, Mass.) and junior Christine Jarowicz (Kennebunk, Maine) found the net in defeat for Franklin Pierce.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce opens its season at 0-2 (0-1 NE10), while AIC improves to 3-1 (1-0 NE10). It marked the fifth time in their last nine meetings the two teams had required overtime to decide a winner. The two teams have a non-conference tilt on the schedule later in the season as well, on Sept. 29 at AIC.

After each side found a goal in the first half, things were looking up for Franklin Pierce early in the second half. In the 35^th minute, Beck took a shot from just inside the top of the circle, which was stymied by AIC junior goalkeeper Jessica Stone. Jarowicz was on the scene for the Ravens though, and a skirmish for the ball took place in front of the Yellow Jacket goal. Jarowicz eventually pushed the ball behind Stone and finished off her first of the season from there.

The lead held into the final six minutes of play, but then things fell apart rather quickly for Franklin Pierce. The equalizer came in the 55^th minute, with just 5:17 to play, after a fairly innocuous-looking entry pass from high on the right side by junior Nicole Mercadante. The ball managed to slip between two Franklin Pierce defenders and took a fortuitous deflection off the stick of one of them, freshman Rebecca Phillips (West Amwell, N.J.), in the process. The redirect sent the ball into the center of the circle and directly to the stick of Shunney, who brushed her second goal of the game into the left side of the cage.

The score now level at 2-2, the game headed for overtime, where AIC needed just 3:57 to put together the game-winner. Freshman Brooke Szafran jumped on a giveaway at midfield, used her speed to beat one Franklin Pierce defender down the right wing and stickhandled past another at the edge of the circle. This left her with a 2-on-0 and only junior keeper MacKenzie Potvin (Goffstown, N.H.) left to resist for the Ravens. Szafran drew the onrushing Potvin, then dished off to the left for sophomore Na'Bree Wallace, who had an empty cage to salt away her first goal of the season and end the game.

Earlier in the day, the two teams traded second-quarter goals. Shunney opened the scoring in the 20^th minute, when she took a feed from up top by junior Shannon Cormier and beat Potvin in a 1-on-1 situation. Franklin Pierce answered in the 25^th minute, after senior Feline van Doorn (Barendrecht, Netherlands) forced a turnover inside the AIC circle. The ball came straight to Beck on the left, who reversed her stick and knocked the ball inside the left post to even the score heading into halftime.

Potvin (0-2) finished with two saves against five shots on the Franklin Pierce cage. Stone (3-1) made two stops as well, against four shots, at the other end of the field.

The Ravens are right back at it on Saturday, Sept. 10, when they travel to Southern Connecticut State for an NE10 contest. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at Jess Dow Field in New Haven, Conn.