RINDGE, N.H. (April 24, 2021) – It was Senior Day for the Franklin Pierce University men's lacrosse team on Saturday, as the Ravens took to Sodexo field to close out the 2021 regular season with a matchup against Northeast-10 Conference opponent Saint Michael's College. Freshman goaltender James Heitmiller (Nashua, N.H.) was locked in for the Ravens, as he made 12 saves against 17 shots in a 9-5 Franklin Pierce win.

With the win, the Ravens improve to 4-6 (4-6 NE10), while Saint Michael's falls to 3-7 (3-7 NE10). Franklin Pierce will be the seventh seed in the upcoming NE10 Championship, and will host 10^th-seeded Saint Rose in the first round on Wednesday, April 28, at 4 p.m.

The first quarter produced only two goals, both of which came from Franklin Pierce sticks. Senior Mike Alibrandi (Holliston, Mass.) fired home an unassisted goal 2:10 into the game. Sophomore Nathaniel Girardin (Brunswick, Maine) doubled the Ravens' lead with 1:16 to go in the opening period with his fourth goal of the season.

Saint Michael's cut the lead to one just 31 seconds into the second quarter, thanks to freshman Nathan Woods. The Ravens would then score two straight before halftime. The first came 4:49 into the period, from sophomore Austin Varney (Fiskdale. Mass.). The second was from junior Patrick Mulhern (Pembroke, Mass.), off an assist from Alibrandi, with 1:30 to go until the break.

Coming out of halftime Franklin Pierce led 4-1, but Woods would strike again to bring the Purple Knights back within two, 5:19 into the quarter. Once again though, the Ravens would follow up with two goals of their own. Sophomore Caleb Ikkela (Onset, Mass.) got a pass in front from senior Josh Dorr (Brunswick, Maine) for his first of two goals, with 7:35 to go in the period. Just over 90 seconds later, with 5:58 to go in the third, Mulhern connected with sophomore Owen McCormack (Hampstead, N.H.) to put the Ravens up 6-2 headed for the final quarter.

Saint Michael's struck twice in the final 10 minutes to shrink the lead to 8-5, but Ikkela provided the exclamation mark with 3:49 to play, as Franklin Pierce finished off a 9-5 win.

Alibrandi and Mulhern finished with two goals and an assist apiece to pace the Franklin Pierce offense. Sophomore Eric Bua Jr. (Revere, Mass.) collected seven ground balls and caused a game-high four turnovers on the defensive side of things.

Woods was the only multi-goal scorer for the Purple Knights, while junior Kyle Hirshom added a goal and an assist. Senior Justin Richmond led all players with eight ground balls.

Heitmiller (4-6) made 12 saves on 17 shots faced to record the win in the Franklin Pierce crease. Freshman Spencer Scardino (0-1) played the first three quarters for Saint Michael's, stopped 11 of 17 shots, and suffered the loss.