ROCKVILLE CENTER, N.Y. (2/22/23) - The Franklin Pierce University men's lacrosse team let one slip away in the third quarter against Molloy University, suffering a 12-8 setback in non-conference action on Wednesday afternoon at the RVC Sports Complex.

With the loss, Pierce falls to 1-1 on the year, while Molloy (ECC) opens their season at 1-0.

Despite surrendering the games first goal to the Lions, the Ravens looked ready for anything in the first half. Through the opening 15 minutes, both teams would score twice with Pierce's half belonging to senior attacker Owen McCormack (Hampstead, N.H.) and sophomore midfielder Jackson Hale (Kensington, N.H.). For McCormack, it was his team leading seventh goal of the season, while Hale picked up his third of the young campaign.

With the two teams deadlocked at 2-2 entering the second quarter, the Lions attempted to claim the lead for good with a 3-1 advantage over a ten-minute span. However, Pierce soon returned to form with under five minutes to play in the half when senior Stephen Ell (Peabody, Mass.) scored his sixth goal of the season, bringing the Ravens back to within one. Pierce would snatch one more for the road with 3:48 left to go, and would draw even with the Lions heading into the second half.

Despite a strong effort in the first two periods, things progressively spiraled out of control for the Ravens in the third quarter. Offensively, the Ravens would fail to score a goal in the third frame, and would additionally surrender four goals on the opposite end of the field to find themselves down 9-5 against the Lions.

Entering the fourth trailing by four, urgency began to pay off just under five minutes in as sophomore Ethan Cote (North Smithfield, R.I.) scored his first collegiate goal to re-ignite the Pierce offense. Just two minutes later, senior defender Eric Bua Jr. (Revere, Mass.) would keep the flame going with his second of the season, bringing Pierce to within two goals of the Lions, 9-7. However, Molloy would kill off the Raven chances for a full comeback less than ten seconds later, eventually working their way up to three unanswered goals over a three minute span, securing their largest lead of the afternoon at 12-7. Eric Bua would manage to score one more time before the final horn, clocking out the Raven offense for the day.

In goal, sophomore Mike Masterpolo (Kingston, Mass.) shouldered the loss for the Ravens, making 17 saves on 29 shots to move to 1-1 on the season. For Eric Bua, it was the first multi-goal game of his collegiate career, while he additionally tacked on six ground balls to lead the team.

Men's Lacrosse will begin their 2023 home slate on Wednesday, February 1^st where they will host regional opponent University of Bridgeport at Sodexo Field for a 4:00 p.m. faceoff.