Noonan explodes for four-point afternoon with three goals and an assist; Harries scores game-winner with 2:18 left in contest

BOXSCORE

RINDGE, N.H. (March 5, 2011) -- A young Franklin Pierce University men's lacrosse team took another important step forward in learning what it takes to win on Saturday as the Ravens scored two unanswered fourth-quarter goals to stage a thrilling come-from-behind 9-8 victory over Dominican at Sodexo Field in Rindge. Franklin Pierce improved to 2-0, while the Chargers slipped to 0-1 to begin the new season.

Freshman midfielder Edward Noonan (Foxboro, Mass.) had an outstanding game with three goals and one assist for four points. Each of his three tallies knotted the score in their respective stages of the game, thus setting up the fourth-quarter heroics from senior attackman Nate Wood (Binghamton, N.Y.) and junior midfielder Eric Harries (Dunstable, Mass.).

Wood, who scored two goals in the contest, tallied his final marker with 5:40 left in the game to knot the score at 8-8. His equalizer came about from working past a defender and getting in front of the goal, where he took a feed from junior Zach Wielgoszinski (Amherst, N.H.), and slipped a shot past the stick of the Dominican goalkeeper. Wood's goal came in a man-up situation for the Ravens after Dominican's Korin Pierce was sent off for 30 seconds following a minor penalty.

The goal energized the Franklin Pierce side, but Dominican tried to counter and both teams exchanged clearing attempts following the score. Franklin Pierce freshman goalkeeper Tim Izzo (Trumbull, Conn.) turned aside a shot and the Ravens quickly countered by heading up the field and establishing an offensive set in Dominican's zone. It was there that Harries took a pass from the left of the goal, maneuvered his way past two defenders and fired a strike to the back of the net with just 2:18 remaining to put the Ravens on top for the first time all afternoon at 9-8.

Dominican couldn't establish another strong scoring chance in the closing minutes, as Franklin Pierce was able to keep the ball on the Chargers side of the field to seal the victory. It was a strong defensive stand by the Ravens, who did an outstanding job in their own zone in the final 15 minutes to help keep them in the game and set up the come-from-behind triumph. Izzo had a big hand in the late stand, and he made 15 saves overall to post his second-straight victory and run his record to 2-0 on the young season.

Franklin Pierce out-shot Dominican by a count of 38-36 and held a 13-8 advantage in faceoffs. The Ravens also buried goals on two of their four extra-man opportunities, while denying the Chargers a score in their four attempts.

The win also added to the growing confidence for the Ravens of playing in the friendly-confines of Sodexo Field. Since the start of last season, Franklin Pierce is 6-3 at home.

Dominican, though, did come out firing in the early stages of the first quarter and took a 2-0 lead. Chris Delaney scored just three minutes into the game and Michael Holl added a marker at the 1:28 mark to put the Chargers on top. However, Dominican's two-goal advantage was short-lived as Noonan struck just 47 seconds later for the Ravens to pull them to within a goal at 2-1. The rookie midfielder used some outstanding stick handling and nifty footwork to move onto the doorstep of the goal, where he was able to fire in a blast to the upper left-corner of the net.

Wood got his first goal of the game with 8:43 left in the second quarter to tie the contest at 2-2, but Dominican answered with back-to-back goals to go up 4-2 with 4:46 left in the half.

But as they would do all day, the Ravens never flinched and Harries put in a marker just 27 seconds later to make it 4-3, and Wielgoszinski tossed in a goal with 2:21 left in the period to tie it at 4-4, which would be the score as both teams headed to halftime.

The teams traded goal-for-goal in the third quarter with Dominican striking first at the 11:35 mark to go up 5-4. Senior co-captain Jack Scanlan (Great Neck, N.Y.) scored a man-up goal two minutes to tie it at 5-5, but the Chargers countered with another tally just 40 seconds later to go back out in front at 6-5. Noonan tied the game at six with 6:58 left in the period as he threw in a strike to the low-side of the goal as he dove to stay out of the way of a defender. After Jesse Peterson put Dominican back on top at 7-6 with 2:55 left in the period, Noonan was it again, scoring his third tally just 38 seconds later to tie the game once again. Pierce capped the scoring in the wild third quarter with a goal with just 1:18 left to send Dominican into the fourth period with an 8-7 lead.

Under the guidance of second-year head coach Rick Senatore, Franklin Pierce has started each of the past two seasons with two-straight victories. It's an impressive fact considering the Ravens had never won a season-opening game in the program's first 12 seasons prior to Senatore arriving in Rindge.

Franklin Pierce is off for the next 11 days and will return to action on March 16 when the Ravens travel to face Mercy. The Ravens will be back home in Rindge on April 2 when they play host to Bentley at 3 p.m. in Sodexo Field.

For more information on Franklin Pierce men's lacrosse, please visit the team's page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.) To follow the program even further, please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on YouTube (www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceAthletics).