MANCHESTER, N.H. – The nationally-ranked Saint Anselm College men's lacrosse team was stunned by visiting Franklin Pierce University on Wednesday – the Ravens came away with a 10-9 overtime victory in Northeast-10 Conference play.
Saint Anselm, ranked No. 15 in NCAA Division II by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association, falls to 4-4 overall and to 2-3 against NE10 opponents. Franklin Pierce, receiving votes in the USILA poll, moves to 6-1 overall and to 3-1 versus the league.
The host Hawks held distinct advantages in every major offensive statistic, except for goals – Saint Anselm fired 57 shots and limited Franklin Pierce to just 28 attempts, but the Ravens put home five of the last six goals in the game's final 18-plus minutes in stunning fashion.
Saint Anselm also committed fewer turnovers (18-to-10), failed on just one of its 19 clears on the evening, and collected 29 of the game's 48 ground balls. The Hawks were stymied by Franklin Pierce freshman netminder Mike Masterpolo, who made his first collegiate start count with 19 saves.
Three scored twice for Saint Anselm, including senior Ben Genest (Salem, N.H.) and his career-high two markers. Junior AJ Caprio (Scituate, Mass.) performed admirably for Saint Anselm on face-offs, winning 14-of-22 draws and picking up six ground balls to set career-high marks in those figures.
Junior Ryan Slattery (North Andover, Mass.) caused two turnovers in the game for Saint Anselm, giving him 40 in his career – he now ranks 10th all-time in team annals in that metric. His 1.54 caused turnovers per game (across 26 contests) is second all-time, trailing only Saint Anselm Athletics Hall of Fame inductee Kevin DeBenedetto '10.
The Hawks held leads of 2-0, 5-2, 6-3, and 8-5, but could not clamp down for the victory. With three seconds left in the third quarter, the Ravens began their comeback by rattling off four consecutive goals to take a brief 9-8 advantage.
Freshman Colin Mulvey (Reading, Mass.) scored the equalizer for Saint Anselm with 5:46 left in regulation time, forcing an overtime period. Hawks netminder CJ Hart (Reading, Mass.) made two quality saves in the final four minutes of the fourth quarter, keeping the Ravens off the board to force overtime.
Franklin Pierce won the first face-off in overtime, but quickly turned the ball over as Will Harvey (Franklin, Mass.) forced the miscue for Saint Anselm. On the first Hawks shot in overtime, the attempt sailed wide and the Ravens won the race back to the line.
Left unmarked on the team's successful clearance, a wide-open Nathaniel Girardin collected a pass from Josh Dorr for the game-winning goal just 1:51 into the extra period.
Saint Anselm plays three of its final five regular-season games on the road, heading to Saint Rose on Saturday, Apr. 9 at 1 p.m.
