SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (October 11, 2022) -- Senior Gabi Sturgeon (North Granby, Conn.) notched her first career multiple-goal game on Tuesday night, and sophomore Caity Hazley (Kingston, Mass.) added a goal and an assist, as the Franklin Pierce University field hockey team went on the road and posted a 4-2 victory in Northeast-10 Conference play at American International. Junior Anna Beck (Attleboro, Mass.) contributed a goal as well at Abdow Field for the Ravens, who now have nine goals in their last three games, after finding the net just eight times in their first seven games.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 3-7 (2-3 NE10) and has won three in a row for the first time since April of 2021. With the loss, AIC falls to 2-9 (1-5 NE10) and has lost five straight.

The first quarter went scoreless, but Franklin Pierce struck twice in the first 10 minutes of the second stanza. The opener came in the 22^nd minute, after the Ravens worked the ball to senior Christine Jarowicz (Kennebunk, Maine) on the left side on a corner play. Jarowicz went to drive the ball towards the net and partially fanned on it, but got enough of the ball to send it bouncing into traffic. The ball had proverbial eyes, as it bounded its way untouched to the right post for Hazley, who knocked home her team-leading fifth of the season from there. Jarowicz is now on a three-game point-scoring streak (1-3-5), coinciding with Franklin Pierce's three-game winning streak.

The Ravens doubled the lead to 2-0 in the 25^th minute. Freshman Ona Gracia (Barcelona, Spain) did the heavy lifting on the play, as she took the ball off an AIC infraction on the right side and carried down the wing to the end line. From there, she cut towards the goal and found a passing lane out front to Sturgeon, who buried her second of the year.

AIC would get one back heading into halftime, in the 29^th minute. Amid a scramble out front, graduate student Shannon Cormier got a stick to the ball and poked it free to freshman Natalia Fiato above the penalty spot. Fiato took a touch to her left to open a shooting lane, reversed her stick and fired a shot home for her first collegiate goal.

The third quarter was largely on the quiet side, but got lively late. Inside the final minute of the period, a rare miscue by sophomore Rebecca Phillips (West Amwell, N.J.) on a restart left an opportunistic Brooke Szafran in all alone, after the junior cleanly intercepted a pass. Sophomore goalkeeper Addy Araneo (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) read the play well though and jumped off her line to smother the chance, with the biggest of her five saves on the night.

The Ravens would make the missed chance hurt even more, as they immediately responded with an insurance marker at the other end, before time could run out on the quarter. Once again, Franklin Pierce converted on a corner after setting up Jarowicz on the left side. This time, Jarowicz got more on her shot, but it was blocked en route by the AIC defense. The rebound caromed straight to Beck in front of the left post though, and she had the quick finish for her second goal in as many games.

Franklin Pierce pushed the lead out to 4-1 with a transition goal in the 51^st minute. Senior Meghan Winn (Newburyport, Mass.) sent a long ball ahead from the midfield stripe and connected with Hazley, just inside the top of the circle. Hazley quickly fired the ball ahead and to the right for Sturgeon, who had a one-touch finish for her second goal of the game.

AIC created the 4-2 final in the last minute of play, as sophomore Justine Lalli found graduate student Nicole Mercadante right out front for the latter's first of the year.

Araneo (3-3) stopped five of seven shots to pick up the win for Franklin Pierce. Senior Taylor Wildes (2-9) had just two saves against six shots on her cage in the loss for AIC.

The Ravens are back on the road again on Saturday, Oct. 15, when they travel to Molloy for an NE10 contest. Game time is set for 11 a.m. at Cedar Creek Park in Seaford, N.Y.