Rutherford, N.J. (March 15, 2022) - Franklin Pierce men's lacrosse paired a solid offensive effort with an equally potent defensive showing in their non-conference matchup against Felician University Tuesday morning, decidedly defeating the Golden Falcons 18-3 on the road.

With the win, men's lacrosse remains unblemished and improves to 3-0 on the season. Felician University, on the other end, moves to 3-3.

As has been the case so far this season, the Ravens made quick work of the first quarter. The scoring began with an unassisted tally from senior midfielder Josh Dorr (Brunswick, ME) just over the half way point of the opening frame. Another senior in Stephen Ell (Peabody, MA) put the Ravens ahead 2-0 a couple minutes later, on a transition play that saw a trio of passes between Caleb Ikkela (Onset, MA), Owen McCormack (Hampstead, N.H) and then finally Ell with the finish. Sophomore midfielder Conor Rooney (Wilmington, MA) found the net for his third goal of the season, putting the Ravens ahead 3-0 late. This was followed with a quick turnaround tally from Ell, making it his third multi-goal game this season.

With a 4-0 lead in hand, the birds entered a relatively quieter 2^nd quarter. Only two goals were scored, with junior attacker Owen McCormack snagging the first one off of a pass in-tight to the goal from Josh Dorr. Caleb Ikkela scored two minutes late to make it 6-0, off of an interesting play. Resulting off of a caused turnover by sophomore Connor McCormack (Hampstead, N.H) on the Felician goaltender, the ball then found Ikkela who sent it into a wide-open cage after the Golden Eagles lost sight of the play.  

Owen McCormack was not done in the 2^nd half, putting up two more goals in the third quarter. Less than a minute into the frame, McCormack scored on a fast-break type play up the field, going five-hole on the Felician goaltender off of a feed from the Ravens defensive end. Felician would finally get on the board mid-way through, only for McCormack to respond with his second of the quarter. The pass came from behind the net off a cycle play from Sean Daly (Kingston, MA), finding McCormack camped in front, putting Franklin Pierce up 10-1.

Entering the final quarter, the Ravens were in complete control of the game leading 12-1 over Felician. However, the offense didn't feel like cooling off, scoring goals in quick bunches. Stephen Ell ripped a shot home off another turnover from the Felician defense, uncaused. An errant pass was picked off by Eric Bua Jr (Revere, MA), and then it was off to the races between the two players, who caught Felician snoozing and capitalized on the chance. Newcomer Jackson Hale (Kensington, N.H), in his third appearance, found the back of the net for the first time in his collegiate career with a goal that put the Ravens ahead 15-1. Despite a pair of Felician goals, Franklin Pierce would power their way through till the end, with another score from Stephen Ell, as well as sophomore Jaxon Underhill (Calabasas, CA) additionally getting his first career goal in the waning seconds.

Ravens netminder Nathan Taylor (Danville, N.H) once again got the start, and had a stellar outing against the golden Falcons. Taylor finished the day facing 17 shots, stopping 14 for his third victory of the season.

Men's Lacrosse will be back on home turf this coming Saturday, 3/19/21 for their first NE10 Conference matchup of the season against Assumption, game start scheduled for Noon E.T.