| RINDGE, N.H. (October 19, 2000) -- After being
outshot and, at times, outplayed in the opening 45 minutes of the
match, the Franklin Pierce women's soccer team responded with one
of its strongest halves of the season Thursday to pull away from
Merrimack College, 4-1, in a Northeast-10 Conference match played
out on a cold and soggy Crystal Field.
The Ravens (11-1-1, 9-0-1 NE-10) were outshot 10-3 in the first
half and needed a long goal by Christine Kirby (Florida, N.Y.)
with 19 seconds left before halftime to take a 2-1 lead. Kirby, who
has now scored a goal in three straight games, took a shot from 35
yards out on the left wing that skipped off the hands of Merrimack
goalkeeper Alison Skoglund (Haverhill,
Mass.)
Tanja Pihlblad (Lonsboda,
Sweden) had given the Ravens a 1-0 lead in the third
minute when she converted a cross to the far post from
Minna Mustonen (Helsinki,
Finland).
The Warriors (9-4, 8-3 NE-10) tied the game at 1-all in the 18th
minute on a goal by Karina Thoene
(Calden, Germany) from 20 yards out. Merrimack carried play for the
next 10-15 minutes.
The Ravens regrouped in the second half and controlled play
throughout. They outshot the Warriors, 14-3, and got a pair of
goals by Sinikka Salomaa (Tampere,
Finland). The first came on a blast from the top of
the 18-yard-box in the 55th minute and the second came in the 86th
minute off a cross from Anumari Ylesmaki (Vantaa,
Finland).
Kim Higgins (Rochester, N.H.)
made four saves for Franklin Pierce, which now turns its attention
to Saturday's NE-10 showdown in New Haven, Conn., against
first-place Southern Connecticut State University. Game time is set
for 4:30 and will be updated live at http://www.fpc/edu.
Merrimack is back home in North
Andover, Mass., Saturday to play the College of St. Rose.
|
