RINDGE, N.H. (4/11/23) – The Franklin Pierce University men's lacrosse team came to play on a breezy Tuesday afternoon at Sodexo Field, with the hosts giving opponent Saint Michael's College all they could handle en route to an eventual 14-11 loss to the Purple Knights in Northeast-10 Conference action.

With the loss, the Pierce men's lacrosse drops to 4-6 (1-5 NE10) overall while Saint Michael's improves to 5-4 (2-4 NE10) with the win.

The first half was a balanced, low-scoring effort for both sides. Graduate attacker Joe Nutting (Amherst, N.H.) got things started for Pierce at the 12:32 mark of the opening frame, with the assist going to senior Caleb Ikkela (Onset, Mass.). However, the Purple Knights would gain an early edge shortly thereafter, with four-consecutive strikes across a four-minute span with each coming from a separate scorer. To close out the period, Caleb Ikkela would also add a goal to the list with just 00:17 left, scoring his 15^th of the season, unassisted.

In the second, the Ravens would score a pair of goals mid-way through, courtesy of senior Sean Daly (Kingston, Mass.) and sophomore Jackson Hale (Kensington, N.H.), who's came a man-up. However, the Purple Knights would make their the lead remained in their favor with two of their own less than a minute apart from each other, bringing the score to 6-4. However, Joe Nutting would also add a late strike with exactly 00:30 left in the half to cut it back down to 6-5 with his second of the afternoon.

As was the case in the first, Pierce would manage to tie-up the score with the Purple Knights, but would unfortunately never see the lead. An unassisted Nathaniel Girardin (Brunswick, Maine) goal at 13:56 of the third brought the action to a 6-6 deadlock, but the lead would once more go back to the visitors on a goal by Ethan Hughes at 8:55. It would be a constant back and forth affair for the remainder of the third quarter, but Pierce would keep things locked up at 9-9 entering the final frame thanks to an unassisted goal by Eric Bua Jr. (Revere, Mass.), once more in the final minute.

Saint Michael's would begin to pull away in the final period, outscoring the hosts by a 5-2 margin to take the win by an 14-11 score. Both Caleb Ikkela and Joe Nutting would notch hat-tricks with goals in the final quarter, while Saint Michael's Sebastian Simonson scored three of his own in the period alone.

In goal, sophomore Mike Masterpolo (Kingston, Mass.) stood strong against 27 Purple Knight shots, making 13 total saves in the losing effort to move to 4-5 on the season. Saint Mike's Sean Regan (4-3) claimed the win for the Knights after stopping 5-of-10, while Spencer Scardino carried half the load, stopping 6-of-12.  

Men's Lacrosse is back at it for senior day this coming Saturday, April 15^th for a matchup with No. 3 Adelphi University (11-0, 7-0 NE10) at 12:00 p.m. at Sodexo Field.