Ferreira and Boller lead the Ravens with three goals apiece

Boxscore

RINDGE, N.H. (April 9, 2008) – Southern New Hampshire University outscored Franklin Pierce University in the second quarter, 11-2, in rolling to a 22-10 victory in Northeast-10 Conference men’s lacrosse action on a sunny Wednesday afternoon at Sodexho Field.

Sophomore Mike Ball (Salem, N.H./Lawrence Academy), the nation’s leader in goals per game entering today, netted five goals for the Penmen to lead all scorers. Seniors Spencer Rennick (Peabody, Mass./Veterans Memorial) and John Delanoy (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) each had four goals to aid the attack, while Rennick also posted three assists for a game-high seven points.

For Franklin Pierce, senior captain Luke Ferreira (Farmington, Maine/Mount Blue) and junior Ryan Boller (New Canaan, Conn./New Canaan) each scored three times. Sophomore Lucas Hamory (Canton, Mass./Canton) had two goals and an assist and junior Jason Flanigan (Shrewsbury, Mass./Shrewsbury) also added two goals for the home team.

Franklin Pierce stayed with Southern New Hampshire for the first 15 minutes of play, as Ferreira gave the Ravens a 1-0 lead 4:42 into the first quarter with his 12th tally of the year. The senior captain tied the game at two with 3:06 left in the period, and the teams looked to go into the second knotted at two before Ball made a late rush down the field and found the net with four seconds left on the clock.

The Penmen took control of the game in the second quarter, taking 22 shots to Franklin Pierce’s eight and outscoring the Ravens by nine. Ball began the frame with two goals in 1:31, and Delanoy added two in a row to give SNHU a 7-2 lead with 9:50 to go in the half. Goals by Boller and Hamory got the Ravens back within four at 8-4 with 7:50 left, but the Penmen scored the final six goals of the period to take a 14-4 lead into the break. Freshman Keith Merluzzo (Billerica, Mass./Billerica Memorial) punctuated the run with a pair of tallies in the final 26 seconds of the second quarter.

Hamory and Flanigan scored to begin the third quarter to lower the deficit to eight at 14-6, but Ball and Rennick combined for five of the team’s six goals in the quarter to give the Penmen a comfortable lead headed into the fourth. The Ravens held a 3-2 edge in goals in the final frame, but the team could not get any closer than 10 goals the rest of the way.

Freshman Eric Gunst (Exeter, N.H./Exeter) moved his record to 5-1 on the year by making 13 saves on 20 shots in the first three quarters of play. For the Ravens, freshman Shea Campbell (Centerport, N.Y./Harborfields) stopped a season-high 20 shots on 38 attempts before junior Ryan Hulse (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial) came on to make six saves in the final 19:14.

Franklin Pierce (2-5, 1-3 NE-10) will step out of conference play on Saturday afternoon, as the Ravens host Dominican College in a make-up game at Sodexho Field at 3 p.m. Southern New Hampshire (5-2, 4-1 NE-10) will host Merrimack College in a conference matchup on Saturday at 1 p.m.