Ben Lassow
Benjamin Lassow (Photo Courtesy of Marisa Ketterman)

Fourth Quarter Comeback Sparks Men’s Lacrosse Fourth Straight Win

ROCHESTER, N.Y.  (March 20, 2018) – Trailing 9-8 heading into the fourth quarter, the Franklin Pierce University men's lacrosse squad tallied five goals to earn a 13-10 comeback victory versus non-conference opponent Roberts Wesleyan College Tuesday afternoon. With the win, the Crimson and Grey remain unblemished at 4-0 while the Redhawks fall to 4-5.

Fresh off a six-goal week, senior team captain Benjamin Lassow (Mansfield, Conn.) led all athletes with a five-score performance. His last marker sealed the match with 2:21 remaining. Fellow captains Sean Delea (Hampstead, N.H.) and Jack Carney (Dunbarton, N.H.) dropped home two goals apiece. Attack Jake Castorf (Holbrook, N.Y.) chipped in a goal and two helpers as well. Delea became the fifth Raven in program history to notch 100 career points. Currently, Delea has a 101 points which ranks him fifth all-time. 

Newcomer Justin Lorenzo (Goshen, N.Y.) started in the cage and improved to 4-0 on the year while stopping 10 shot attempts for FPU. The Ravens outshot the Redhawks (39-to-25) and were a perfect 20-for-20 (100.0%) on their clear attempts. Over their last two games, Pierce has converted 27 consecutive clears.

For the hosts, midfielders Matt Gademske and AJ Hems paced their squad with two goal and one assist efforts.

In the first quarter, both teams swapped goals back in forth as Lassow began the contest with a marker on a man advantage following a pushing penalty. Multiple minutes passed in the second period until Lassow regained the lead to the Ravens side as he dumped in an unassisted tally for his second goal of the contest. The goal trading continued as each squad traded markers before Lassow capped the half with a hat trick and another man-advantage tally to move the Ravens ahead 5-4 at the intermission.

Three consecutive goals by Castorf, Nevin Kriger (Burlington, Mass.) and Lassow gave FPU an 8-4 advantage with 7:37 left in the third. However, the Redhawks offense exploded for five in a row to lead 9-8 after two straight goals off the stick of Hunter Lemieux. About two and a half minutes into the fourth quarter, Delea knotted the duel via an unassisted marker at 9-9. Cody Menzies recaptured a brief lead for RWC, but Carney pushed the Ravens back ahead for good with his first of two fourth period scores. Freshman midfielder Josh Dorr (Brunswick, Maine) and Lassow added insurance for Pierce.

The Ravens return to Northeast-10 Conference play this Saturday with a showdown in Manchester against no. 17 nationally-ranked Saint Anselm College at noon.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce men's lacrosse apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store). You can also follow the men's lacrosse team on Twitter (https://twitter.com/FPUMLacrosse) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/fpumlacrosse).