Brendan Cahill scores winner with just 65 seconds left in the game; Shea Campbell comes up with two huge saves in the final 36 seconds to preserve the win

BOXSCORE

RINDGE, N.H. (April 26, 2010) – The Franklin Pierce University men’s lacrosse team snapped its losing streak on Monday night with a thrilling 11-10, last-minute win over Assumption at Sodexo Field in Rindge. The Ravens improved to 5-7 overall and 2-7 in the Northeast-10, while the Greyhounds fell to 4-9 and 0-9 in league play.

Freshman attack Brendan Cahill (Hollis, N.H.) broke the 10-all tie by scoring the game-winning goal off a nifty feed from Matthew Leslie (Ballston Spa, N.Y.) with just 1:05 left to play in the game. Leslie set up the play by scooping up a loose ball off an Assumption turnover and flipping it to Cahill, who flew into a pile of bodies in front of the crease, and slipped a shot past Greyhound goalkeeper Scott Vogel.

Franklin Pierce goalkeeper Shea Campbell (Centerport, N.Y.) was the next Raven to step into the hero’s role, as Assumption responded to the late goal by moving into its offensive zone and firing two point-blank shots on Campbell inside the final 36 seconds. However, the junior goalkeeper was up to the task by swatting away both attempts to preserve the lead and the win for Franklin Pierce.

Cahill had a team-best five points on the evening as he scored four times and assisted on one other goal. Junior attack Nate Wood (Binghamton, N.Y.) continued his strong play as of late with a four-point night including two goals and two assists. In all, seven Ravens scored, while six collected multiple-point games. Campbell made 11 saves on the evening to earn the win to improve to 5-7 on the year.

Tom Guido tossed in four goals to lead the Assumption offensive attack, while Will Langevin added a trio of tallies. Guido also assisted on two others to total six points during the contest. Vogel made a strong 15 saves in net for the Greyhounds despite taking the loss.

The game was closely contested as the lead was never larger than two goals on either side, and it changed hands three times with six ties.

Guido got the scoring started with a goal at the 13:41 mark of the first period, but Ryan Dintaman (Northfield, Mass.) and Cahill tossed in back-to-back scores to give the Ravens a 2-1 lead five minutes later.

Guido responded with two-consecutive goals to put Assumption back into the lead at 3-2, as it held a 4-3 lead following one period.

Wood tied the game at 4-4 early in the second with a goal, but Alejandro Ruiz and Connor MacNeil answered with goals to send the Greyhounds into halftime with a 6-4 lead.

The Ravens had the opportunity to respond in the second half and they did just that by scoring six of the half’s first eight goals to take a 10-8 lead with 9:29 left in the game. Cahill, John Scanlan (Great Neck, N.Y.), Ryan Palmer (Hinesburg, Vt.) and Jimmy McInnis (Amherst, N.H.) each scored in the third period, while Wood and Pat Doliber (Marblehead, Mass.) scored in the opening five minutes of the fourth period to give the Ravens their largest lead of the game at 10-8.

Assumption didn’t fold and rallied with a goal each from MacNeil and Langevin within a five-minute span to knot the game at 10-10.

Franklin Pierce outshot Assumption by a count of 40-25, and committed just 12 turnovers to the Greyhounds’ 22. The Ravens did a solid job in clear attempts by going 17-of-21, while limiting Assumption to just 14 successful tries in 20 attempts. Both teams were 2-for-3 in goals scored in man-up situations.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Saturday when it closes out the 2010 season by playing host to Pace at 1 p.m. at Sodexo Field.

For more information on Franklin Pierce men’s lacrosse, please visit the team’s page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.)