RINDGE, N.H. (April 10, 2019) – Franklin Pierce University men's lacrosse team captain Jake Castorf (Holbrook, N.Y.) scored one goal and produced a team-high three assists for four points during the Ravens 18-8 loss to no. 4 nationally-ranked and Northeast-10 Conference opponent Merrimack College Wednesday afternoon on Sodexo Field. With the win, the Warriors improve to 9-1 overall and remain undefeated in league play (7-0) while the Crimson and Grey stumble to 4-5 overall and 2-5 NE10.

Castorf's three helpers gave him 46 in his Raven career passing Casey Burnett to move into second place in team annals. He trails all-time assist leader Eddie Noonan's mark of 51 for the top slot. The four-point effort also propelled Castorf past former teammate Sean Delea for third all-time in points with 125. He trails Burnett's total of 129 for second and Noonan's program-high 155 for first all-time.

Fellow team captain Luke Tracy (Windham, N.H.) recorded a hat trick for the home team with three scores. Sophomore midfielder Josh Dorr (Brunswick, Maine) chipped in two goals of his own. Goalkeeper Justin Lorenzo (Goshen, N.Y.) made only four saves in the loss as his record fell to 4-5 on the campaign. Faceoff specialist Lawrence Bastianelli (Rocky Point, N.Y.) was 15-for-28 (53.6%) from the faceoff X.

The Warriors were led by Sean Black's three goals and game-best five assists. Starting attack Charlie Bertrand manufactured five goals for Merrimack. Peter Brown played the first half in net stopping three shots and collected his fifth win of the season.

FPU outshot their counterparts 38-to-32 in the battle, but only 19 of the Ravens 38 shots were on goal.

Merrimack came out of the gate to score the first goal at the 12:25 mark. Black dished off a fancy pass to Jake Holava and he racked up the close left wing tally to push the Warriors ahead 1-0. The Ravens immediately countered when a Tracy and Castorf connection was successful after a turnover and clear to deadlock the game 1-1 20 seconds later. The guests and the Ravens swapped goals to keep the game tied 2-2 following Dorr's unassisted tally. The Warriors went on to produce six straight goals including their only man-advantage goal to take an 8-2 first quarter lead.

Castorf fed Tracy again in the second quarter to bring the Raven deficit down to five, 9-4 with 11:13 until the break. Bertrand went to work adding two more scores of his own coupled with a Michael O'Connell goal to increase the margin to 12-4 at the break. By the end of the third quarter, the Warrior advantage expanded to a high of 13, 18-5. The Ravens pushed in the only three goals in the fourth quarter falling 18-8 to their conference opponent.

The Ravens look to end their four-game losing streak on Friday when they head to cross state conference rival Southern New Hampshire University for a 7:00 p.m. battle.

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).