RINDGE, N.H. (4/25/23) – The 2023 season had a very happy ending for Franklin Pierce men's lacrosse on Tuesday afternoon, as they closed out the spring with a 13-12 victory over The College of Saint Rose in Northeast-10 Conference action at Sodexo Field.

Pierce completes the campaign with a 6-9 (3-8 NE10) overall record, while Saint Rose drops to 5-12 (3-7 NE10) with the loss.

Franklin Pierce jumped on the board first with back-to-back strikes from sophomore Ethan Cote (North Smithfield, R.I.) and senior Caleb Ikkela (Onset, Mass.) under 1:30 apart from each other. Following a Golden Knight goal at 10:46 to cut the Raven lead down to 2-1, Ikkela would add his second of the game to restore the two-goal edge for the hosts. With under five to play in the first, Saint Rose then used two consecutive goals of their own to draw even with Pierce, hoping to enter the second period tied 3-3. Yet, with 1:36 remaining in the period, senior Owen McCormack (Hampstead, N.H.) scored the go-ahead goal for the Ravens, sending them into the second leading 4-3.

After senior Sean Daly (Kingston, Mass.) put one in the back of the net to begin the second quarter scoring for Pierce, Saint Rose answered with two straight to draw the two clubs even once more, this time at 5-5. From there, the Ravens would out-battle the Golden Knights for the remainder of the half, outscoring them by a 3-1 margin to help the hosts to a 8-6 advantage entering the break. Two of Pierce's three goals would come from the stick of Eric Bua Jr. (Revere, Mass.).

Golden Knights Eddie Baker and Emmett Brady opened the third with back-to-back goals, once again bringing the two teams to a deadlock. However, a Joe Nutting (Amherst, N.H.) finish off a Caleb Ikkela feed would ignite a two-goal Raven run, putting them back ahead by a 10-8 score. Just 36 seconds later, Eddie Baker would pull Saint Rose back to within one with his second of the game. For good measure, junior Connor Rooney (Wilmington, Mass.) answered at the 2:07 mark, bringing back a two-goal advantage for Pierce heading into the final period of play.

At 11:54, following a lengthy scrum for possession, freshman defender Drake Nelson (Ashburnham, Mass.) scooped up the ground ball and let a shot fly to score his first collegiate goal, putting Pierce up by three. However, a pair of Saint Rose strikes would set the stage for a dramatic finish to the Tuesday contest, putting the Golden Knights right back on the Ravens' heels at 12-11. Then, with 4:30 to play, Connor Rooney would rip home the eventual game winner for the Ravens, with Saint Rose adding one final goal from Cam Smith at the 1:42 mark. On one final Saint Rose rush in the waning seconds, sophomore goalkeeper Mike Masterpolo (Kingston, Mass.) stretched out for a game-saving save, winning the game for the Ravens, 13-12.

In total, the Ravens went 26-for-27 in clear attempts, but was outshot by the opposition by a 65-40 margin. Masterpolo earned the win in goal for the Ravens, improving to 5-7 with 25 saves in the effort.