Men's Lacrosse Opens 2011 Season with 13-7 Triumph Over Curry
Nate Wood scores four times and assists on another tally; Eric Harries pumps in four goals
RINDGE, N.H. (March 2,
2011) -- The Franklin Pierce University men's lacrosse
team opened its 2011 season on Wednesday with a 13-7 triumph over
Curry College at Sodexo Field in Rindge. The Ravens, who improved
to 1-0, won their second-consecutive season-opener. Curry dipped to
0-1.
A pair of Ravens had four-goal afternoons, including junior
midfielder Eric Harries (Dunstable, Mass.) and
senior attackman Nate Wood (Binghamton, N.Y.).
Wood also added an assist to tally a five-point afternoon, which
tied his career-high for total points in a contest. Harries' four
goals came in his Franklin Pierce debut, as he transferred into the
program prior to the season after playing the previous two years at
the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. The four markers were
the first for Harries in his collegiate career.
Junior attackman Jimmy McInnis (Amherst, N.H.)
also had a strong offensive game for the Ravens as he scored a pair
of goals and assisted on two others for a four-point day. The two
tallies tied his career-high.
The Ravens featured freshman Tim Izzo (Trumbull,
Conn.) in goal, and the rookie had a solid collegiate
debut as he made seven saves to backstop Franklin Pierce to
victory.
Curry was led by Joseph Natale, who tossed in five goals, while
assisting on another to post a six-point afternoon. Michael Hibbard
stopped 12 shots in net, despite suffering the loss.
It didn't take long for Franklin Pierce to strike as the Ravens
scored on their first shot attempt just 25 seconds into the game.
Harries got the tally as he roamed around the top of the box and
fired a strike that eluded the goal stick of Robichaud. A little
more than three minutes later McInnis scooped up a ground ball
behind the goal and swung around the front of the net and slipped a
shot to the low-side to give the Ravens a 2-0 advantage.
Natale scored back-to-back goals minutes later to knot the score
at 2-2 as the first quarter ended. The first period saw Franklin
Pierce play a little hesitant due to the fact that several
first-year players were making their collegiate debuts. However,
that hesitancy wore off in the second quarter and the early stages
of the third quarter as the Ravens scored eight-straight tallies
during that time frame to build a comfortable 10-2 advantage.
Wood popped in his first goal at the 13:05 mark of the second
quarter to break the 2-2 tie and Harries followed three minutes
later with his second goal of the game to make it 4-2 Franklin
Pierce. Sophomore midfielder Scott MacDonald (Marshfield,
Mass.) followed with a goal midway through the period and
Harries capped the first-half scoring with his third goal at 4:55
of the second to give the Ravens a 6-2 lead at halftime.
Just as he did in the first half, Harries came out firing early in
the second half and scored a goal just 24 seconds into the third
quarter to extend Franklin Pierce's lead to 7-2. Senior co-captain
Jack Scanlan (Great Neck, N.Y.) tossed in a goal
90 seconds later, and junior attacker Zach Wielgoszinski
(Amherst, N.H.) scored his first goal in a Ravens' uniform
at the 8:19 mark of the period to make it 9-2. Wielgoszinski, along
with his identical twin brother Josh (Amherst,
N.H.), transferred into the program prior to the season
after spending the previous two years at Lassell College.
McInnis capped Franklin Pierce's surge with a goal moments later,
but Curry stemmed the tide with a pair of tallies in the final 2:33
of the quarter to pull within 10-4 at the end of three.
Wood, though, put any thoughts of a Curry comeback to rest as he
scored three-straight markers to open the fourth quarter to put
Franklin Pierce up, 13-4, with just 6:56 remaining. Curry did add
three goals late, but it wasn't enough as the Ravens cruised on to
victory. The Colonels did fire several shots on goal late in the
game, but Izzo was able to come up with some strong saves to keep
Curry from coming back any further.
The home win added to Franklin Pierce's growing success at Sodexo
Field under second-year head coach Rick Senatore, as the Ravens
have gone 5-3 in the friendly-confines of Rindge since the start of
last season. Franklin Pierce returns to action Saturday when the
Ravens play host to Dominican (N.Y.) at 1 p.m. in Sodexo Field.
For more information on Franklin Pierce men's lacrosse, please
visit the team's page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.) To follow
the program even further, please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on
YouTube (www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter
(www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook
(www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceAthletics).