RINDGE, N.H. (3/25/23) – The Franklin Pierce University men's lacrosse team suffered a 17-9 setback to the Bentley University Falcons on a snowy Saturday afternoon in Northeast-10 Conference play at Sodexo Field.

With the loss the Ravens fall to 3-3 (0-2 NE10) overall, while the Falcons advance to 3-2 (2-0 NE10) overall.

The Ravens came out of the gate hot with junior midfielder Connor Rooney (Wilmington, Mass.) netting the first goal of the game at the 13:42 mark of the first quarter. From there, Pierce would cruise ahead to a 3-0 advantage on goals by seniors Eric Bua Jr. (Revere, Mass.) and Caleb Ikkela (Onset, Mass.), both of which came less than 00:15 apart. However, the Falcons eventually found their footing and brought the game to a 3-3 deadlock on three unanswered goals of their own, before trading with the Ravens through the final five minutes to keep things knotted up at 5-5 entering the second frame. Senior midfielder Nathaniel Girardin (Brunswick, Maine) was the owner of the final Raven goal, unassisted.

Senior Sean Daly (Kingston, Mass.) placed the Ravens back in the lead with a goal at 9:59 of the second quarter, but the Falcons continued to match their opponent on the opposite end of the field. Junior Nicholas Thorn-Guillaro followed with a goal less than a minute later to pull the two teams even at 5-5. Pierce then responded with graduate Joe Nutting (Amherst, N.H.) scoring his 15^th of the season, restoring a one-goal edge for the hosts. To close the half, however, Bentley's Luke Jaber and Garrett Witt would each score to grant the Falcons their first lead of the afternoon.

With the snow beginning to fall at Sodexo Field to start the second half, Bentley would take advantage of some bulk offensive possession by scoring the next four goals, featuring another pair by Nicholas Thorn-Guillaro . In an effort to try and narrow the new 11-6 deficit, Connor Rooney returned with his second of the contest to end the drought, but would see his effort matched under a minute later by Bentley's Reid Malkin to return the Falcons to a five-goal lead, 12-7. With under a minute to play, the Ravens found themselves down a man but were still able to find the back of the net on a phenomenal solo effort by Sean Daly, also securing his second of the game.

In the final stanza, the Falcons went on a five-goal tear insure their lead, outscoring Pierce by a 5-1 margin to eventually claim the victory by the 17-9 final. Sophomore midfielder Ethan Cote (North Smithfield, R.I.) served as the lone goal scorer of the fourth quarter for the Ravens, collecting his 2^nd on the season unassisted.

Despite the loss, starting goalkeeper Mike Masterpolo (Kingston, Mass.) stood on his head in goal for the Ravens with 25 saves on 42 total shots faced, moving to 3-2 on the season. Bentley's Jackson Tinsley claimed the win in goal for the visitors off a 5-of-14 performance, improving to 3-2 this season.

Men's Lacrosse will face their first in-conference road test this coming Tuesday, March 28^th at American International College (2-4, 0-1 NE10) at 4:00 p.m.