John Massaro
John Massaro (Photo Courtesy of Dan Forget Photography)

#17 Pace Beats Franklin Pierce In Low Scoring Home Finale

RINDGE, N.H. (April 17, 2018) – The no. 17 nationally-ranked Pace University men's lacrosse program earned an 11-5 Northeast-10 Conference victory against host Franklin Pierce University Tuesday afternoon in a cold and windy contest played on Sodexo Field. With the setback, the Ravens drop to 5-6, 3-6 NE10 while the Setters improve to 6-5, 5-4 NE10.

The first half of the contest was low scoring as both teams combined for only six markers with the guests notching four of them. 10 goals were tallied in the second half with Pace pulling away late in the fourth quarter.

Ravens freshman midfielder Nevin Kriger (Burlington, Mass.) continued his stellar play following up a four-goal effort Saturday against Southern New Hampshire University with a team-leading two goals. Teammate Sean Delea (Hampstead, N.H.) produced a goal and an assist while seniors Benjamin Lassow (Mansfield, Conn.) and John Massaro (Newington, Conn.) added one score apiece. Massaro, a defender, chipped in only his second career goal and led FPU with four groundball pickups.

Pace's Bradley Paterson and Joshua Kreitler dropped in three markers each while Paterson assisted on one goal giving him four total points in the conference showdown. Raven netminder Justin Lorenzo (Goshen, N.Y.) made 10 saves giving him six games of double-digit stops this season. Opposing goalkeeper, Robert Beshlian stopped a match-high 14 shot attempts in his fifth win of the campaign.

At the 12:24 mark, Pace drew first blood when junior midfielder Vincent Vasheo cradled the ball from left to right and poured in a free-falling attempt. Minutes passed until the next goal was scored with 7:08 left in the quarter. Matthew Simone forced Lorenzo into a mistake and the junior midfielder scooped up the loose ball. The rock eventually found the stick of Ryan O'Hagan and he did the rest converting a shot attempt to increase the early edge to 2-0. About three minutes later, Delea drew the Ravens within one by sprinting through the Pace defense from the right wing and cashing in a runner high into the cage to make the score 2-1.

Following a slashing call on the Ravens in the second stanza, Peter Bashar connected with Wyatt Barfoot on a catch and shoot play to grow the guest advantage to 2-1. Franklin Pierce countered with a "man up" marker of their own as junior attack Luke Tracy (Windham, N.H.) fed Kriger to pull the Ravens back within one. Daniel Keenan added a slick low liner to advance the Pace lead to 4-2 before the intermission.

In the third, the Crimson and Grey pulled within one again as Kriger punched in a running shot for his second score of the showdown at the 12:36 mark. Three straight tallies by Pace including an open cage man advantage dump in by Joshua Kreitler upped the score to 7-3. After a faceoff victory via a violation by the Setters, Ravens senior Brad Chapdelaine (Goffstown, N.H.) caused a turnover by smacking the ball out of O'Hagan's stick. Massaro snagged the ball, ran down the center of the field and fired a shot that tickled the twine to get the Ravens within three, 7-4 with 13:43 to play. However, the Setters outscored the Ravens 4-1 over the final minutes of regulation.

The Ravens conclude their 2018 slate of games on the road. They travel to NE10 opponent The College of Saint Rose Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. battle.

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).