Game-winning goal (video)

WALTHAM, Mass. (October 21, 2017) – Goals came early and often, at least at the start of each half on Saturday afternoon at Bentley University Turf Field. Still, a long stretch of scoreless play after the score leveled at 3-3 sent the game to double overtime. Finally, in the 94^th minute, junior midfielder Raegan Moulton (Baldwinville, Mass.) buried a drive off of a penalty corner to cap a hat trick and send the Franklin Pierce University field hockey team spilling onto the field in celebration of a 4-3 win over Bentley in Northeast-10 Conference play.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 10-6 (7-4 NE10), while Bentley falls to 4-11 (4-7 NE10).

With one game left to play in the regular season, the Ravens sit fifth in the NE10 standings, with the top six teams set to head to the NE10 Championship. Merrimack currently occupies sixth place at 5-4 in league play, is tied with Franklin Pierce in the loss column, with two games in hand.

Meanwhile, Assumption and Adelphi both sit at 5-5, are tied for seventh, and play each other on Tuesday night at Adelphi. Franklin Pierce holds the tiebreaker over Adelphi by virtue of a head-to-head win, which means the Panthers cannot catch the Ravens. As a result, an Adelphi win on Tuesday night would punch Franklin Pierce's ticket through to the NE10 Championship. Otherwise, pending Merrimack's results, the Ravens could need a win over Assumption next Friday to advance. The Ravens are in search of their first postseason berth since 2011.

In all, Moulton finished with seven points on the day, as she added an assist to go with her three goals. It was the highest scoring output by a Raven since Tia Levins '12 went for seven points on Oct. 12, 2011, also against Bentley. It was just the fourth time a Raven collected seven or more points in a single game.

The Ravens would jump to a 2-0 lead on a pair of Moulton tallies in the first five minutes. First, just 2:14 into the proceedings, she banged home her seventh goal of the season into an empty net from the left post, off a soft feed from the right side by junior forward Ashley Silva (Laconia, N.H.). Bentley freshman goalkeeper Tatiana Naclerio had come out to challenge the feed across the goalmouth but could not get to the ball.

Just 2:18 later, Moulton cashed in again, this time from about 10 yards directly in front of the cage. She pushed her shot straight ahead, and the ball slipped between the pads of Naclerio and into the cage. For Moulton, it marked her first career multiple-goal game.

Bentley was able to even things up before halftime though, with goals in the 29^th and 34^th minutes. In the 29^th, senior midfielder Taylor Kane struck for her first goal of the season off of a drive from the left-wing side, through traffic on a corner play. Junior midfielder Niki Neidhart picked up the assist on the play.

The Falcons struck again, just less than five minutes later, on a rush into the circle on the left side. Junior forward Mikayla Ullrich reversed her stick and went to center the ball, but the attempted service deflected off the stick of Franklin Pierce junior back Sarah Bjorn (Holden, Mass.) and wound up in the back of the net for Ullrich's second goal of the year. Sophomore forward Sam Pavano provided the assist.

Bentley then took the lead just 55 seconds into the second half. A long ball from the left side of the midfield got away from everyone, and senior goalkeeper Meaghan Williams (Salem, N.H.) came off her line to try to cut it off near the top of the circle. However, Williams came up empty as well, which left her out of position as the ball trickled away into the right side of the circle. Sophomore forward Tess Anderson won the footrace to the ball and finished her first of the season into the vacated net.

It did not take Franklin Pierce long to respond, as the Ravens knotted things at 3-3 in the 39^th minute, just 2:28 later. Off of a corner, the ball came to Moulton at the top of the circle, and she fed it to Silva near the penalty spot. Silva reversed her stick and finished off her fifth goal of the campaign.

From there the scoring quieted, as the final 21:37 of regulation and all 15 minutes of the first overtime went without another goal. Franklin Pierce generated four penalty corners in the final three minutes of regulation, and even tallied three shots on goal in the process, but came up empty.

Finally, deep into the second overtime, in the 94^th minute, Moulton found the winner. Junior forward Dayna Kowesky (Leominster, Mass.) inserted a corner and sent it directly to Moulton outside the circle, just on the left-wing side. Moulton wasted no time, as she stepped inside the circle, wound and fired. Her drive went untouched through traffic and thudded into the back of the cage for the game-winner.

Williams (10-6) finished with three saves against six shots on goal to pick up the win in net for the Ravens. She became the first goalkeeper in program history to reach double digits in wins in a single season. It was also Williams' 30^th career win, making her the first in program history to reach that milestone as well.

At the other end of the field, Naclerio (2-4) stopped five of nine shots on her goal and suffered the loss in net for Bentley. Senior back Caitlin Derrickson chipped in a defensive save along the way for the Falcons as well.

The Ravens return to the field on Friday, Oct. 27, in the regular-season finale, when they travel to Assumption. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at Multi-Sport Stadium in Worcester, Mass.

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 field hockey apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).