Kelly notches first career goal

RINDGE, N.H. (October 20, 2011) – Senior forward Tia Levins (Manchester, Maine) scored twice and added an assist to finish with five points, while fellow senior forward Danielle Dolan (West Brookfield, Mass.) chipped in three points on a goal and an assist on Thursday night as the Franklin Pierce University field hockey team posted a 5-1 victory over Stonehill in Northeast-10 Conference play at Sodexo Field. Freshman forward Courtney Kelly (Plymouth, N.H.) scored her first career goal in the win for Franklin Pierce.

With the victory, Franklin Pierce improves to 9-8 (6-3 Northeast-10), while Stonehill falls to 8-9 (3-6 Northeast-10). The win, combined with a loss by Bentley on Thursday, means the Ravens will host a postseason game for the first time in program history on Wednesday, Oct. 26, in the quarterfinal round of the Northeast-10 Championship, time and opponent to be determined. With a win on Saturday against Assumption, Franklin Pierce will finish as the third seed. Thursday's win ensures the Ravens will finish above .500 in Northeast-10 play for the second straight year and the third time in program history. It was the fourth consecutive win for Franklin Pierce, matching a school record.

After 22 minutes without a goal, the Ravens began to find the net often, with three goals in a span of 10:46 in the final 13 minutes of the first half to take a 3-0 lead into the intermission. First, Dolan corralled the ball on a rebound in the middle of the circle and slipped a pass by Stonehill freshman goalkeeper Elizabeth Genovese to Levins, who was standing all alone by the goal line to bang home her team-leading 16th goal of the season 22:19 into the contest. The assist was the 14th of Dolan's career, breaking a school record she had previously shared with Ashley Abernethy '10 and Debbie Jones '04.

Just 6:03 after the Levins goal, Franklin Pierce made it 2-0 off a penalty corner. Freshman midfielder Taylor Libby (Sidney, Maine) injected the ball to senior midfielder Kim Jaksina (Townsend, Mass.), who was stationed on the left side of the circle. Jaksina wound and fired a shot through traffic that became her fourth goal of the season when it crossed the goal line and thudded into the backboard.

Another 4:43 later, Levins notched her second goal of the game. This time, junior midfielder Megan Bird (Laconia, N.H.) extended her own program record with her team-leading eighth assist of the season. Bird sent the ball towards the cage with a strike from 10 yards outside the circle in the middle of the field. Levins got her stick to the ball and redirected it home to extend another two school records, with her 17th goal of the season and the 34th of her career. The third goal chased Genovese from the game in favor of junior goalkeeper Kaitlyn Curtis.

The Ravens would keep things going in the second half, making it 4-0 before Stonehill could get on the board. Just over 13 minutes into the second stanza, senior forward Lauren L'Heureux (Sanford, Maine) took a shot that was stopped by Curtis. However, the rebound came right back to the stick of L'Heureux, who slipped a pass to her left, the keeper's right, to Kelly, who pushed the ball into her cage for her first career goal. She became the fourth Raven to notch her first career goal in 2011.

Stonehill got on the board just shy of 10 minutes after the Kelly goal, when senior forward Kathryn Nelson got her team-leading 11th of the season by putting home a rebound from the high slot.

The Ravens regained the four-goal cushion and created the 5-1 final just 2:32 after the Nelson goal. With the ball on the left wing, Levins sent an airborne centering feed across the circle. Dolan was waiting for it on the right post and knocked it out of midair and into the net for her fifth goal of the season.

Senior goalkeeper Brittany Nyzio (Attleboro, Mass.) made eight saves against nine shots on her cage to pick up the win (8-6) in front of the net for Franklin Pierce. The win was the 24th of her career, extending her own program record, and leaves her just one shy of the school record for wins in a single season.

Genovese stopped just one save on the four shots sent her way and suffered the loss (6-6) between the pipes for Stonehill, before being relieved after the third goal. Curtis played the remaining 36:55, making five saves on seven shots on goal.

The Ravens return to the field on Saturday, Oct. 22, when they remain home to host Assumption in a Northeast-10 Conference contest. Game time is set for 1 p.m. at Sodexo Field. Franklin Pierce will honor its seven-player senior class prior to the start of the game.

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).