WALTHAM, Mass. (September 6, 2007) – The Franklin Pierce University field hockey team took Bentley College, ranked ninth in the latest STX/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Div. II national poll, into overtime before falling by a score of 3-2 on Thursday evening at the Charles A. Dana Athletic Center.

Playing a nationally-ranked opponent for the second time in three days, Franklin Pierce came back from one-goal deficits on two different occasions against the Falcons before Bentley’s Nicole Murphy (Dedham, Mass./Dedham) scored off the first penalty corner of overtime 3:28 into the extra session, gathering the rebound of a Christina Lowe (Tewksbury, Mass./Tewksbury) shot and putting it past Raven goaltender Stephanie Howard (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk).

After Allison St. Jean (Lebanon, Maine/Noble) gave the home team a 1-0 lead in the 14^th minute of play, graduate student Mary Beth Huszar (Greenville, N.H. Mascenic Regional) tied the game for the Ravens with an unassisted tally at 27:27 of the first half. The goal, Huszar’s first of the season, moved the forward into a tie for third on the school’s all-time goals-scored list with 13.

Bentley went into halftime with a 2-1 lead thanks to a penalty corner goal from Heather Buda (East Kingston, N.H./St. Thomas Aquinas), but the Ravens responded again with the only goal of the second half. At the 47:44 mark, freshman Jordan Baillargeon (Westfield, Mass./Westfield) scored her first collegiate goal, an unassisted tally, to even the game at two and eventually send it into overtime.

Bentley held a 16-10 edge in shots and a 14-8 advantage in penalty corners on the evening, and scored two of its three goals off corners. The two teams each put six shots on goal, as Bentley netminder Alyssa Sliney (Brewster, Mass./Nauset Regional) made four saves while Howard made three stops in net.

Franklin Pierce (0-4, 0-3 NE-10) will next return home in search of its first win of the season, as the Ravens take on Northeast-10 foe American International on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Sodexho Field. Bentley (3-1, 3-0 NE-10) will host Southern Connecticut on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.

Bentley 3, Franklin Pierce 2 (OT)

Goals by period     1  2 OT  Tot

Franklin Pierce        1  1  0 -  2

Bentley                  2  0  1 -  3

SCORING SUMMARY:

1.  13:08 BEN Allison St. Jean (1) (Abbie DeMusis)

2.  27:27 FPU Mary Beth Huszar (1) (unassisted)

3.  33:04 BEN Heather Buda (1) Penalty corner

4.  47:44 FPU Jordan Baillargeon (1) (unassisted)

5.  73:28 BEN Nicole Murphy (2) (Christina Lowe) - Penalty corner

Shots: Franklin Pierce 10, Bentley 16

Saves: Franklin Pierce 3 (Stephanie Howard 3), Bentley 4 (Alyssa Sliney 4)

GAME STATISTICS