Freshman Matt Entwisle notches a pair of assists to help aid in the Ravens' offensive attack

RINDGE, N.H. (March 31, 2012) -- The Franklin Pierce University men's lacrosse team got off to a fast start, which helped to propel the Ravens to an important and satisfying 11-6 win over Assumption on Saturday afternoon at Sodexo Field in Rindge. Franklin Pierce snapped a two-game losing streak in improving to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in the Northeast-10, while the Greyhounds fell to 2-6 and 1-3 in league play.

Franklin Pierce, which is off to the program's best start in NE-10 play after four games, was led offensively by junior attackman Brendan Cahill (Hollis, N.H.), who dumped in a game-high three goals. Seniors Ryan Dintaman (Northfield, Mass.) and Jimmy McInnis (Amherst, N.H.) each netted a pair of goals, while freshman Matt Entwistle (Marshfield, Mass.) logged a pair of assists.

The Ravens also had a strong day defensively as they limited Assumption to just five shots in the first half in building an 8-1 lead at the intermission. Franklin Pierce forced the Greyhounds into 15 first-half turnovers, including nine in the first quarter alone. Freshman Will Schorle (Marshfield, Mass.) forced Assumption into three miscues, while junior Ben McDannell (Morrisville, Pa.) and senior Alex Whitney (Stratham, N.H.) caused a pair of turnovers. Whitney's two caused TO's added to his league leading total of 22.

Assumption was able to solve some of Franklin Pierce's defensive trappings in the second half, but the Ravens were backstopped by freshman goalie Don Denman (Exeter, N.H.), who made nine of his 11 saves in the final 30 minutes to seal the win and run his record to 4-3 on the year.

Franklin Pierce's 4-3 mark after the first seven games is tied for the best start in program history as the 2010 team also completed the task. This year's squad is just one win away from tying the program record for the most wins in a single season, which the 2010 team did with five triumphs.

The outstanding defensive play of the Ravens carried over to the offensive side in the opening 30 minutes as they were able to build a seven-goal lead at halftime. Franklin Pierce came out firing early and pumped in a pair of goals in the opening three minutes to take a quick 2-0 lead. Dintaman notched the game's first goal with an unassisted tally and sophomore attackman Eddie Noonan (Foxboro, Mass.) threw in a marker shortly thereafter as he took a feed from Entwistle in front of the goal and slipped a shot to the upper right corner of the net as he was falling away to the left of the crease. McInnis netted a tally at the 6:06 mark of the quarter and Franklin Pierce took a 3-0 lead into the second.

Sophomore Bryan Bourque (Goffstown, N.H.) had a memorable game as he scored his first collegiate goal at the 11:17 mark of the second quarter, which staked the Ravens to a 4-0 lead. Bourque's speed and energy provided a boost to the Ravens' offensive attack in the first half as he generated several scoring chances.

The momentum from Bourque's goal was short lived as Casey Marren scored right off the ensuing face off nine seconds later to put the Greyhounds on the board and pull them to within a 4-1 margin.

Assumption held the pace of play for the next couple of minutes, but the Ravens wrestled back the momentum with four unanswered goals to close out the half for the 8-1 lead. McInnis and Cahill scored back-to-back tallies, while sophomore Alex Connolly (West Newbury, Mass.) threw in a marker with 4:58 left. Cahill picked up his second goal a little more than a minute later to cap the first-half scoring.

After an early Assumption goal by Tom Guido to begin the third quarter, Cahill and freshman Cody MacLellan (Keene, N.H.) answered with consecutive goals to put the Ravens up 10-2.
Guido and Ian Mack capped the frame with back-to-back goals and Assumption entered the fourth quarter down 10-4. The Greyhounds were able to fire off 23 shots in the second half as they tried to mount a rally, but Denman came up huge for the Ravens as he stopped several point-blank attempts to thwart the comeback.

Dintaman scored with 3:31 remaining in the game to put the Ravens up 11-4, as they would not look back in cruising in for the victory.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Wednesday when the Ravens play host to Le Moyne at 2:30 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/FranklinPierceRavens).