RINDGE, N.H. -- Saint Michael's broke a 10-10 tie by scoring four of the final six goals en route to beating Franklin Pierce 14-12 at Sodexo Field during Northeast-10 Conference action on Tuesday. The win pushes the Purple Knights to 6-2 overall and 4-2 in the league, while the Ravens drop to 3-7 and 2-6. Saint Michael's reached the six-win plateau for the first time since 2008, which was also the last time it won at Franklin Pierce.
Senior Crystal King powered the Purple and Gold offense with four goals and three assists, matching her career highs in goals and points (7) while pushing her career point total to 93. Classmate Shannon Murphy and junior Kate Boyer both added three tallies. Classmate Courtney Piper had a goal and an assist, while junior Kim Liberty, sophomore Steph Bonewald and first-year Ali Gosselin netted one goal apiece. Bonewald contributing seven draw controls, two ground balls and two caused turnovers. Sophomore Casey Curtin posted nine saves.
Sophomore Lauren Beville led the Ravens with four goals, while juniors Megan Raposa and Madeline Shopshire both registered three goals, with Shopshire adding a helper. Junior Julia Coakley made nine saves in 56 minutes of action.
The Purple Knights jumped out to an early 2-0 lead 3:51 into the game, but the Ravens responded with two unanswered goals in a 1:31 span to knot up the game at 2-2 by 23:17 of the opening half. Beginning just 13 seconds later, Saint Michael's reeled off seven straight goals in 10:29, thanks to Murphy's two goals, a goal and two assists from King, and a tally and a helper from Piper. King had the visitors in front 9-2 with 12:35 remaining, but Franklin Pierce countered with five unanswered goals in a matter of 5:09 and entered halftime trailing 9-7.
The Ravens continued their offensive charge by netting three of the first four goals of the second half, and Shopshire's tally evened up the score at 10-10 with 23:18 remaining. Saint Michael's retook the lead with 17:36 left to play on Boyer's marker, King followed 13 seconds later, and Liberty created a three-goal cushion with 10:31 to go. Franklin Pierce twice edged within two goals, including on Beville's tally at 5:52, but Curtin made two stops in the final 3:48 to secure the win for Saint Michael's.
