Don Denman comes up with 18 saves to help backstop the Ravens to victory

RINDGE, N.H. (April 6, 2013) – The Franklin Pierce University men’s lacrosse team got balanced scoring from several players and some huge saves throughout to pick up an important 9-7 win over Saint Anselm on Saturday afternoon at Sodexo Field in Rindge. The Ravens won for the third time in four games to even their overall record at 4-4 and their Northeast-10 Conference record at 3-3. The Hawks dipped to 2-6 and 2-4 in league play.

Sophomore attackman Kevin Dargin (Littleton, Mass.) exploded for five points on three goals and a pair of assists. He notched his hat-trick on a game-high 11 shots, including six on goal.

Sophomore midfielder Erik Kelly (Tewksbury, Mass.) added to his steady offensive play by scoring twice and registering an assist for three points.

However, a pair of Ravens stepped out of the shadows offensively to help their team get the win, as freshman Luke McDermott (New Milford, Conn.) and sophomore Cody MacLellan (Keene, N.H.) each dumped in a pair of goals. McDermott also recorded an assist to cap his three-point day. Franklin Pierce registered 31 shots, including putting 19 on goal.

If the offensive play wasn’t impressive enough, Franklin Pierce also got it done defensively, including sophomore goalie Don Denman (Exeter, N.H.) turning aside 18 of 25 shots to earn the win to run his record to 4-4 on the year.

The Ravens also forced St. A’s into 19 turnovers as senior defender Ben McDannell (Morrisville, Pa.) caused three of the miscues, while McDermott and sophomore Will Schorle (Marshfield, Mass.) caused a pair each.

The victory was Franklin Pierce’s second-straight over Saint Anselm, as the Ravens also downed the Hawks, 11-10, last season in Manchester. That win proved to be one of the most special in program history as it was Franklin Pierce’s first triumph over a nationally-ranked opponent.

The game was evenly contested throughout and the Ravens scored back-to-back goals to open up the second half and snap a 4-all tie. MacLellan scored an unassisted tally midway through the period and Dargin fired a strike 70 seconds later to put the Ravens up by two.

Saint Anselm, though, settled things down late in the frame and sandwiched a pair of tallies around a Kelly marker to pull within one heading into the fourth quarter.

Dargin, though, put the Ravens back up by two at 8-6 a little more than two minutes into the final frame as he buried a man-up goal from off the left side of the goal following an impressive dish from freshman Casey Burnett (Windham, N.H.).

Ben Warren cut Saint Anselm’s deficit in half at 8-7 two-and-a-half minutes later with a goal, but Kelly sent home an unassisted marker just 90 seconds later to effectively end any threat by the Hawks.

Denman came up with several huge stops in the final minutes, including one from point blank in front of his own goal with four minutes to go.

Dargin’s five-point day was his second in the last three contests and ran his team-leading point total to 25 points.

McDermott tossed in Franklin Pierce’s first two goals to get the scoring started as the Ravens held a 3-2 advantage after one.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Tuesday night when the Ravens travel to Manchester to face Southern New Hampshire at 7 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/FranklinPierceRavens). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce men’s lacrosse apparel can do so on the athletic department’s online store at athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store(.)