Justin Lorenzo
Justin Lorenzo (Photo Courtesy of Emily Williams)

Saint Anselm Pulls Away Late in Close Conference Affair

RINDGE, N.H. (March 21, 2019) – Franklin Pierce University men's lacrosse graduate midfielder Domenic St. Laurent (Amherst, N.H.) scored a season-best three goals and chipped in one assist for a team and campaign-high four points as the Ravens were bested 15-9 Thursday afternoon by Northeast-10 Conference opponent Saint Anselm College on Sodexo Field. The win, the first of the season for the Hawks sends them to 1-2, 1-1 NE10 while the Crimson and Grey's unblemished mark ends at 3-1 and 1-1 NE10.

St. Laurent's three scores were a new single-game personal high as he never achieved that mark during his tenure at the University of Massachusetts – Amherst. His four points matched his Raven debut when he tallied a goal and three assists during a 15-0 win at Post (3/3). Teammate Jake Castorf (Holbrook, N.Y.) manufactured one goal and two dimes in the defeat.

For the Hawks, senior attack Patrick Sweeney dominated with seven goals on 13 shots to go with a caused turnover and one groundball. Sophomore midfielder Sean Tomaszewski added two goals and two assists for four points.

Raven starting goalkeeper Justin Lorenzo (Goshen, N.Y.) saved a season-best 11 shots and fell to 3-1 on the young season. His counterpart, Nick Richard made 13 saves and collected his first win.

Saint Anselm had the narrow advantage in shots (42-to-37) and Pierce took care of the ball more (12 turnovers to 18), however, the Hawks won more faceoffs (17-to-9) and capitalized on the man advantage (2-to-0).

Sweeney scored first for the guests when he spun off his defender and bounced home an unassisted tally. The Ravens immediately responded with four consecutive scores of their own to take a 4-1 advantage. St. Laurent cracked the scoring column for FPU following a successful clear attempt. He ran right towards the close right wing and fired a one-timer that tickled the twine. Sophomore transfer Mike Alibrandi (Holliston, Mass.) gave Pierce their first lead 2-1 four minutes later when St. Laurent fed him middle right for the top shelf conversion.

Senior Luke Tracy (Windham, N.H.) played give and go with Castorf when Castorf curled around the cage and Tracy placed a perfect pass to his teammate in transition for the running sideways attempt expanding the edge to 3-1. Senior attack Matt Brewster (Merrimack, N.H.) capped off the Raven spurt, set a screen, ran behind the net and knocked home another sideways faller at the 4:22 mark.

The Hawks responded with five consecutive markers of their own to regain the lead 6-4. With 9:14 until the intermission, the Ravens cleared the Hawks offensive zone, set up their offense and Castorf returned the favor for Tracy feeding him a push shot right in front of the cage bringing the deficit to one, 6-5. Sweeney wrapped up the second quarter scoring twice including an impressive between the legs goal with his back to Lorenzo to move the Hawks ahead 8-5. Five of Sweeney's seven scores came in the first half and four of his seven happened in the second period.

St. Laurent came out of the locker room firing dropping the margin to one, 8-7 with a pair of goals 1:21 apart. SAC countered racking up four in a row to reestablish a five-goal, 12-7 lead five minutes into the fourth quarter. Two tallies by the Ravens, a Castorf to sophomore midfielder Josh Dorr (Brunswick, Maine) connection and a Lawrence Bastianelli-Conlon (Rocky Point, N.Y.) faceoff win and score brought the hosts within three, 12-9. The Hawks iced the game sinking three straight goals to hang on for the win.

The Ravens remain at home for the second game of their three-game home swing on Wednesday, March 27th versus conference opponent Saint Michael's College at 3:30 p.m.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://fpuravens.com). 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://fpuravens.com/store). You can also follow the men's lacrosse team on Twitter (https://twitter.com/FPUMLacrosse) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/fpumlacrosse).