HOOKSET, N.H. (4/19/23) – The Franklin Pierce men's lacrosse team erased an 8-3 first half deficit to force overtime against in-state rival Southern New Hampshire University, but found themselves on the wrong side of a 13-12 final score at Mark A. Ouellette Stadium on Wednesday evening.

Franklin Pierce is now 4-8 (1-7 NE10) on the year following the OT loss, while SNHU won its fourth straight game to improve to 5-4 (4-4 NE10) overall.

Pierce opened scoring with a goal by senior midfielder Sean Daly (Kingston, Mass.) with 13:06 remaining in the first quarter. The next four strikes would belong to the Penmen, however, with the goals on either side of the barrage belonging to attackman Chris Valentine.

Trailing 5-1 after a goal from Ryan Auger to open the second, Raven graduate Joe Nutting (Amherst, N.H.) responded with his team-leading 25^th goal of the season, unassisted and a man-up. Not long after, however, the Penmen lead would be increased thanks to three-unanswered goals scored in under 1:30, all of which also came a man-up. In a last chance effort to salvage some momentum from the first half, Nutting would add his second goal of the game off at the 2:59 mark, sending the Ravens to the break trailing 8-3.

Despite the deficit, the late goal in the first half did manage to re-ignite the Raven offense entering the second. Pierce would open and close the third quarter on 3-0 scoring runs, beginning with another batch of goals from Sean Daly and Joe Nutting, as well as senior Nathaniel Girardin (Brunswick, Maine) on the front end the frame. SNHU would also net a trio of goals at the midway point of the period, but would see their sizeable lead diminished on Pierce's closing run. On the back end of the period, Pierce would see a fourth goal of the game from Joe Nutting, and the first goals of the evening for Ethan Cote (North Smithfield, R.I.) and Caleb Ikkela (Onset, Mass.). Suddenly, the Ravens were within range of a comeback, trailing 11-9 heading into the fourth.

Needless to say, the momentum carried over into the final period for the Ravens, as Sean Daly completed the hat-trick with 12:36 left in regulation to bring Pierce to within one. A few minutes later, it would be Daly yet again to net the equalizer, deadlocking the score at 11-all off a pass from senior Owen McCormack (Hampstead, N.H.). However, SNHU would not back down as Chris Valentine gave the hosts back the lead with a go-ahead goal just over three minutes later, only to see Joe Nutting tie it once more for the Ravens with his fifth of the day, 30^th of the season with 3:27 left.

In overtime, a winner would finally be decided as SNHU played spoiler to the outstanding Raven comeback effort, as graduate attacker Tristan Pietz scored the game-winning goal 2:51 into extra time, giving the hosts the 13-12 win.

Starting goalkeeper Mike Masterpolo (Kingston, Mass.) claimed the loss (4-6) for the Ravens, but stood tall against 40 SNHU shots with 27 saves in the effort. Ronan DePaul (5-4) earned the win for the Penmen, stopping 19-of-31 in net.

Despite the loss, a major career milestone was reached by senior Owen McCormack. With his final assist of the game, McCormack officially reached the 100-career points mark, becoming just the 7th player in program history to do so.

With just two games remaining this season, Men's Lacrosse will head down to Syracuse, New York for a matchup with top-ranked Le Moyne College this Saturday, April 22^nd at Noon.