HOOKSET, N.H. ( 3/17/23) – The Franklin Pierce women's lacrosse team suffered another lopsided setback by a 20-9 score to Roberts Wesleyan College on Friday afternoon, playing as the hosts at Mark A. Ouellette Stadium at Southern New Hampshire University.

With the loss, women's lacrosse has now lost three straight games and drops to 1-4 (0-2 NE10) overall this season. Roberts Wesleyan improves to 5-4 with the win.

Pierce got on the board first with a goal from senior attacker Gabrielle Oswald (Nedrow, N.Y.) just 00:56 into the opening quarter, but would fail to lead at any point beyond that. Roberts Wesleyan answered right back just over a minute later on a free position attempt by Sophia Podszebka, which kicked off a 3-0 scoring run by the Red Hawks. Both of the Ravens next two goals in the frame would also come off eight-meter attempts by midfielders Katelyn Hadden (Newburyport, Mass.) and Kayli Hoefs (Amsterdam, N.Y.), but would not be enough for the Ravens to gain any advantage through 15-minutes played.
 
Roberts Wesleyan increased its lead in the second quarter with four goals across two minutes, all of which came from different players. However, Pierce was able to formulate a response thanks to a pair of goals from Kayli Hoefs and a single strike from Gabrielle Oswald, bringing them right back into the action trailing 9-6 with under five to play in the half. Katelyn Hadden would manage to score once more for the Raven on a free position attempt prior to the end of the half, but Roberts Wesleyan would score twice more to take an 11-7 advantage to the locker rooms. 

The second half continued to cause headaches for the Ravens, as the Red Hawks would outscore the hosts by a 9-2 margin over the final 30-minutes played. Tori Lammes, Annie Mulhall and Kadie Tierney each scored twice for the Red Hawks through the span, while Katelyn Hadden and Gabrielle Oswald secured the final pair of goals for Pierce, ending the day in a 20-9 loss. 

In goal, senior Erin Blake (Southborough, Mass.) made four saves for the Ravens through the first half, while freshman Saige Paradise (Milford, N.H.) finished things up in the second half with eight stops. The Ravens trailed the Red Hawks in most categories throughout the day, but came out in front with a 16-15 edge on draw controls.

The season opening homestand comes to a close for women's lacrosse, as they will return to conference competition this coming Monday, March 21^st with a road matchup at Le Moyne College at Noon.