BUFFALO, N.Y. (2/11/23) - The Franklin Pierce men's lacrosse team traveled west to Buffalo, New York to open their 2023 season with a non-conference matchup versus D'Youville University on Friday, February 11^th. To ring in the new season, the Ravens exploded for the biggest offensive output since 2007, doubling up on the Saints by a score of 24-12 at Dobson Field.

It is also the first time since 2019 that men's lacrosse opened the regular season with a win (excluding the 2020 COVID-19 campaign), as they start things off 1-0 in 2023. D'Youville also played in their first contest of the season, and start off 0-1 on the year.

The Ravens controlled the first quarter, out shooting the Saints by the margin of 17-5 margin on their way to an 7-1 first quarter edge. Senior attacker Owen McCormack (Hampstead, N.H.) led the offensive push in the first 15-minutes, notching three goals while also adding an assist on a strike by Stephen Ell (Peabody, Mass.) at the 3:35 mark. Sophomore Jackson Hale (Kensington, N.H.) would also contribute to the output in the first, collecting two goals of his own.

The second quarter would be another dominating outing for the Ravens, as they continued to shell the Saints' net with another six goals on the board, including consecutive points from Caleb Ikkela (Onset, Mass.) at 13:13 and 10:53 respectively.  Through the first 30-minutes, the Ravens had also managed a 10-8 face-offs edge on the Saints, courtesy of senior specialist Nate Taylor (Danville, N.H.), and would hold a 13-2 lead.

D'Youville would gain back some control with a 5-4 scoring edge in the third quarter, but Pierce held the advantages in groundballs (12-5) and faceoffs (10-2), extending their lead to 17-7. From their scoring advantage, the Saints would secure the first trio of goals in the quarter, but find themselves at the mercy of Owen McCormack who went on to score another pair, both unassisted. Stephen Ell would also find the back of the net in the quarter, as well as senior Nathaniel Girardin (Brunswick, Maine).

In the fourth quarter, both teams would go on five unanswered goal runs, with Pierce going first with early goals from Nate Taylor and junior Andy DeMattio (North Attleboro, Mass.). All-in-all, the Ravens managed to slam the door shut, outplaying D'Youville in nearly every facet of the game on their way to the 24-12 victory.

Owen McCormack finished with six goals in the effort for the Ravens, also adding in a three-piece in assists with seven shots on goal. Stephen Ell delivered a five-goal performance for Pierce, while Caleb Ikkela scored four times to aid in the win. In ground-balls, Nate Taylor led all field players with eight, and sophomore goalkeeper Mike Masterpolo (Kingston, Mass.) turned aside 8-of-15 shots faced through 45:09 played.

Men's lacrosse returns to action on Wednesday, February 22 when they head down to Rockville Centre, New York to take on Molloy University at 4:00 pm.