Mincolla tallies five goals and three assists to spark offense

RINDGE, N.H. (April 24, 2003) - Sophomore Nick Mincolla (Cohasset, Mass./Gov. Drummer Academy) netted five goals and dished three assists to lead Franklin Pierce to its first win in two seasons, as the Ravens defeated American International College, 17-10, in Northeast-10 Conference men's lacrosse action at the Franklin Pierce Field Hockey/Lacrosse Field this afternoon. The win marks head coach Jay McCormack's first NCAA victory.

Mincolla extended his scoring streak to nine games with his five-goal performance against the Yellow Jackets.

Senior Brendon Dillon (Wilton, Conn./Wilton) recorded his first career hat trick, as he posted three goals and one assist. Junior Dean Patty (East Lyme, Conn./East Lyme) registered a pair of goals and two assists, while classmate Derek Mandatori (Newton, Mass./Newton North) was the team's top playmaker of the afternoon, dishing three assists to go along with a goal in the win. Sophomore Frank Parker (Derry, N.H./Pinkerton Academy) chipped in two goals and an assist to help the cause.

The AIC offense was led by freshman Ryan Robin who totaled four goals, three of which came in the first half, and an assist. Classmate Jeff Valdes followed with three goals and three assists for a team-high six points, while Justin Kean added a pair of goals.

In a game marred by 32 penalties, the teams began to battle seconds after face-off. The Yellow Jackets drew first blood just a minute into the game, as Valdes netted his first of the afternoon off of a feed from Robin.

The Ravens stuck back with an unassisted tally from Mincolla two minutes later, but Robin teamed up with Valdes once again to score his first of the afternoon at the 8:10 mark of the opening quarter.

The Ravens closed out the quarter with a pretty goal from senior Andrew McEntee (Manhasset, N.Y./Manhasset). Mandatori tore through a crowd of defenders up the left side of the field and dished a perfect pass to McEntee who fired a hard shot past AIC netminder, Preston Cicchine with ten seconds left in the first.

Franklin Pierce refused to let up in the second quarter as junior Kevin Medeiros (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford) banged in a rebound off of the initial shot from Mincolla at the 2:25 mark to go up by two. The Yellow Jackets answered four minutes later when Robin ripped a shot by goalkeeper Andy Cote (Middleton, Mass./Masconomet) to cut the Ravens' lead to one.

The Yellow Jackets made things interesting with two minutes left in the half, as senior Anthony Guarnieri netted an unassisted marker to knot the score 5-5 heading into the break.

Mandatori and Parker helped the Ravens regain the lead scoring back-to-back markers in under two minutes to open up the third quarter. The lead was one Franklin Pierce would never relinquish, as the Yellow Jackets never came closer than two goals for the remainder of the match. Cote made 15 stops in net for his first win of the season.

Franklin Pierce (1-8, 1-7 NE-10) returns to action on Saturday when it travels to No. 1-ranked LeMoyne for a Northeast-10 Conference match at 11 a.m. American International College (0-8, 0-8 NE-10) next travels to Saint Anselm College tomorrow for a Conference game at 3:30 p.m.

GOALS:
FP - Nick Mincola 5, Brendon Dillon 3, Dean Patty 2, Andrew McEntee 2, Kevin Medeiros 2, Frank Parker 2, Jimmy Ward, Derek Mandatori.
AIC -- Ryan Robin 4, Jeff Valdes 3, Justin Kean 2, Anthony Guarnieri 1.

ASSISTS:
FP - Mincolla 3, Mandatori 3, Patty 2, Parker, Dillon.
AIC -- Valdes 3, Robin, Preston Cicchine, Guarnieri.

SAVES:
FP - Andy Cote (60:00) 15 saves.