Rindge, N.H. (3/19/22) – It was a rainy afternoon at Sodexo Field, but the outcome was bright for the Franklin Pierce men's lacrosse in their first NE10 conference matchup of the season. It was a close fought battle between the Ravens and Assumption University, with Franklin Pierce taking the win by a final score in overtime of 10-9.

The overtime victory is the first for the Ravens since April 3, 2021. With the win, the Ravens remain undefeated at 4-0, as Assumption University drops to 1-3 this season.

It took until the 6:35 mark of the first quarter for the first goal to be scored, when midfielder Nathaniel Girardin (Brunswick, ME) scored an unassisted goal. Junior attacker Caleb Ikkela (Onset, MA) would later make it a 2-0 game off of an Assumption turnover, with mid-fielder Ethan Cote (North Smithfield, R.I.) collecting the ground ball and delivering a stretch pass ahead to Ikkela, who broke through the defense and scored one-on-one. In the final thirty seconds of the quarter, the Ravens would add another to the score after freshman Jackson Hale (Kensington, N.H.) sent a blistering shot through traffic, picking up his second goal this season.

With Franklin Pierce leading Assumption 3-0 into the 2^nd quarter, the Greyhounds showed they weren't going home quietly. To close out the half, the Greyhounds scored five unanswered goals, with three of them coming in quick succession over a two-and-a-half-minute span. For good measure, the remaining two were scored in the final minute of the half, just 19 seconds apart. Despite the defensive struggles in the second, the Ravens managed to outshoot the Greyhounds 17-11, with three shots on goal.

The Ravens returned from the half-time break ready for action, putting together a scoring streak of their own. After having their first score disallowed, Stephen Ell (Peabody, MA) answered the call and scored his team leading 13^th goal after being left all alone in front of the Assumption net, with the assist coming from Nathaniel Girardin who drew off the defenders. Ell would keep the fire burning and the momentum in favor of Franklin Pierce, scoring his second of the day just over a minute later. The tying goal came off an Assumption save, which produced a rebound for Ell to turn and convert on the second effort. Franklin Pierce would strike again with 8:00 to play in the quarter, as Caleb Ikkela picked up his second goal of the contest, unassisted. In an attempt to create more space on the scoreboard, graduate Josh Dorr (Brunswick, ME) sent a shot low corner off a pass from up-top by Jackson Hale.

After a late goal in the 3^rd quarter by Assumption, the score was once again a one goal difference at 7-6. Caleb Ikkela completed the hat trick performance scoring 1:15 in, putting the Ravens ahead by two goals once again, also unassisted. Assumption, similar to their 2^nd quarter response, made some noise by tying the game midway through on two unanswered goals. However, Stephen Ell never cooled down, and while he was cutting towards the goal caught a feed from Caleb Ikkela and sent a shot home, putting the Ravens back on top for the third time.

The overtime heroics began off a blocked Assumption shot by senior defender Robert Colburn (Walpole, MA), who collected the ground ball and played it out of danger for a successful clear. With a time-out called by Franklin Pierce, they were able to set up shop and get to work with Nathaniel Girardin moving the ball to the top of the offensive zone. In near identical fashion to their combination play in the 3^rd quarter, Girardin with a sharp move towards the goal drew off all three defenders and fed the ball to Stephen Ell who scored his 17^th of the year, which proved to be the finalizing goal for the Ravens.

Senior goalkeeper Nathan Taylor (Danville, N.H.) has appeared in every game thus far for Franklin Pierce, and improves to 4-0 on the season after making 14 total saves in the effort.

Franklin Pierce will have the week off to prepare for their next test, an afternoon road matchup coming up on Saturday, 3/26 at Bentley University.  First face-off is at 1 PM E.T.