Despite loss, junior goalkeeper Shea Campbell turns in solid performance with 13 saves and a goal

BOXSCORE

RINDGE, N.H. (April 13, 2010) – The Franklin Pierce University men’s lacrosse team battled Southern New Hampshire to the final whistle on Tuesday night, but the Penmen were able to use a fourth period goal to pull out a slim 5-4 win at Sodexo Field. Franklin Pierce fell to 4-4 and 1-4 in the Northeast-10, while SNHU improved to 4-6 and 2-4 in league play.

Junior goalkeeper Shea Campbell (Centerport, N.Y.) had a strong game for the Ravens despite the loss as he made 13 saves and yielded just the five goals. However, his most impressive accomplishment on the night was his second period goal at the 7:16 mark to pull Franklin Pierce to within a goal at 3-2. It marked Campbell’s first tally of the season. After making a save and collecting the ground ball, Campbell took off up the field looking to outlet a pass to one of his teammates. Instead of finding someone, Campbell walked into the SNHU zone and fired a shot that beat Penmen goalkeeper Eric Gunst.

That score sparked the Ravens, who a just a minute later got a goal from freshman Brendan Cahill (Hollis, N.H.) to knot the game at 3-3. Cahill beat Gunst with a shot off a nice pass from Pat Doliber (Marblehead, Mass.).

Giving up the two-goal lead did not deter SNHU as it went right back to work on the offensive end and got a tally from Greg Reynolds just 61 seconds later to make it 4-3 with 5:10 left in the period.

Both teams failed to score the rest of the half and the entire third period. Franklin Pierce did have three open looks in the third period, but Gunst made one impressive save after the other to preserve the one-goal lead for Southern New Hampshire.

Franklin Pierce, however, got to Gunst in the opening minute of the fourth period as Jimmy McInnis (Amherst, N.H.) slipped a pass to Ryan Dintaman (Northfield, Mass.) from behind the goal which Dintaman immediately deposited in the back of the net to tie it at 4-4.

Again, SNHU had an answer, and with 9:20 remaining in the game, Keith Merluzzo beat Campbell with a low shot that put the Penmen up for good at 5-4. Franklin Pierce had two opportunities late, but could not convert as Gunst made two more strong saves. Gunst made 11 saves to earn the win.

Franklin Pierce held a 38-36 advantage in ground balls, however SNHU forced the Ravens into 21 turnovers. The Penmen also outshot the Ravens by a count of 34-26.

Steve Miley gave the Penmen a 1-0 lead with 2:38 remaining in the opening period on his goal, but Nate Wood tied the game at 1-1 for Franklin Pierce just 46 seconds later with a tally of his own. It took SNHU just eight seconds to regain the lead at 2-1 when Merluzzo picked up a ground ball off the faceoff and threw a shot past Campbell. Andrew Brown made it 3-1 SNHU with 13:39 remaining in the second period with his tally.

Franklin Pierce returns to action on Saturday when the Ravens take on Saint Anselm in Manchester at 3 p.m.

For more information on Franklin Pierce men’s lacrosse, please visit the team’s page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.)