Ravens tied with nationally-ranked foe late in the first half

BOXSCORE

RINDGE, N.H. (April 5, 2011) – For the second game in a row, the Franklin Pierce University men’s lacrosse team hung tough in the first half with one of the Northeast-10’s best teams. The Ravens found themselves tied 6-6 with No. 9-nationally ranked Merrimack late in the first half on Tuesday, but the Warriors were able to bridge the second and third quarters with multiple goals to pull away for a hard-fought 15-8 win at Sodexo Field in Rindge. Despite the strong play by the Ravens, Franklin Pierce fell to 3-5 overall and 1-4 in the NE-10, while Merrimack improved to 7-2 and 4-1 in league play.

Junior midfielder Eric Harries (Dunstable, Mass.) had another solid game for the Ravens as he tossed in three goals for the second-straight contest. He also assisted on two others for a five-point afternoon. Seniors Jack Scanlan (Great Neck, N.Y.) and Nate Wood (Binghamton, N.Y.) chipped in with two goals apiece, while junior middie Ryan Dintaman (Northfield, Mass.) tallied the other marker for the Ravens.

Freshman goaltender Tim Izzo (Trumbull, Conn.) got the start in goal for the Ravens and made 14 saves despite suffering the loss to fall to 3-5. He made several strong saves in the second quarter which enabled the Ravens to remain in the contest and ultimately tie the score late in the half.

Terence Barclay and Nick Vazquez totaled three goals each for Merrimack, while Brad McAdam, Corey Lunney and Michael Balbuena had two tallies apiece. Lunney also assisted on four goals to produce a six-point afternoon. Connor Reagan got the start in net for the Warriors and made nine saves to earn the win and improve to 7-2 on the year.

Merrimack came out firing and scored three quick goals to begin the game, but the Ravens countered with man-up tallies from Harries and Dintaman in a 44-second span midway through the first quarter to pull within a goal at 3-2.

The Warriors bridged the first and second quarters with two goals to grab a 5-2 advantage, but the Ravens stormed back with three-consecutive markers to knot the score at 5-5 with 9:42 left in the half. Scanlan scored the first goal at 12:28 when he moved to the front of the net, took a pass from Jimmy McInnis (Amherst, N.H.) and slipped a shot to the lower-left corner of the net for the score. Harries got the next goal just 33 seconds later when he sprinted towards the net and fired a strike that took Merrimack’s defense and Reagan by surprise. Wood capped the brief surge with a marker at 9:42 as he scored from the slot following a nice slip pass by Harries.

Mike Perdie put Merrimack back on top 6-5 at the 8:27 mark with a shot from the left side of the net, but Harries responded a little more than a minute later with a tally to even the game at 6-6.

Both teams settled down defensively for the next few minutes, but following a Franklin Pierce penalty late in the quarter, Merrimack scored three times (including two man-up goals) to take a 9-6 lead into halftime.

That momentum carried over into the third quarter as the Warriors opened the stanza by scoring five-straight tallies to take a 14-6 lead and put the game out of reach. Wood and Scanlan did score for Franklin Pierce in the second half, but it wasn’t enough as Merrimack went on for the win.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Saturday when the Ravens travel to Worcester, Mass. to take on Assumption at 12 p.m.

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).