Ravens rally with two second-half
goals to advance to ninth-straight regional final
RINDGE, N.H. (November 15,
2003) - Top-seeded Franklin Pierce, ranked No. 7 in this
week's National Soccer Coaches Association of America
(NSCAA)/adidas Division II poll, scored two second half goals to
survive a scare and post a 2-1 victory over fourth-seeded Southern
New Hampshire University in NCAA Division II New England Region
semifinal action at the Franklin Pierce Field Hockey/Lacrosse
Complex this afternoon.
Franklin Pierce (19-2) advances to
the regional final for the ninth-straight year where it will face
third-seeded and No. 22-ranked College of Saint Rose (14-4-2), who
advanced past second-seeded and No. 11-ranked Merrimack College,
6-5, in a penalty shootout after the two sides played 110 scoreless
minutes, on Monday at 1 p.m.
"Saint Rose is a good team," said
Franklin Pierce Head Coach Jeff Bailey.
"They've played Merrimack tight three times and finally got past
them today. We have to be ready to play."
Southern New Hampshire, making its
second NCAA Tournament appearance rounds out its season at 11-5-4.
"We proved we could play with
Franklin Pierce today," said SNHU Head Coach Terry
Prouty. "We've come a long way and I think we've
regained the respect of the teams here and the rest of the
Northeast-10 Conference this
season."
Franklin Pierce, participating in
its record 12th consecutive NCAA Tournament, got the
winner in the 68th minute when sophomore forward
Laura Hislop (Belfast, Northern Ireland)
curled a free kick from 30 yards out off the far left post and into
the upper left-hand corner of the goal for her Northeast-10 leading
27th goal of the season.
The Ravens knotted the match at the
54:17-mark when junior All-American Meghan Welcome
(Haverhill, Mass./Haverhill) fired a cross from the
right side back across the run of play that found sophomore
Sonya Hughes (Balbriggan, Ireland) at the
top of the box for a one-timed shot into the upper left corner of
the net.
"I just swung my foot at it and it
went in," said Hughes. "On another day it could have gone 50 miles
over the bar."
The goals came as a result of
increased Franklin Pierce offensive pressure in the second half
after the opening 45-minutes saw the Ravens behind 1-0 and shots
even at
3-3.
"We knew at halftime we could win,"
said Hughes. "We just needed to step it up and give ourselves a
chance to correct ourselves."
"We had a hard time getting our
forwards going in the first half," said Bailey. "That end of the
field was frozen and made things difficult. (Southern New
Hampshire) was able to sustain pressure and after we went down 1-0,
I just hoped we wouldn't let in another before we could get our
forwards going on the other side of the field."
Southern New Hampshire's defense
also played a factor in stifling the Ravens in the first half. The
Penwomen saw the fruits of their hard work pay off with the opening
goal. Senior Erica Flynn (Scituate,
Mass./Scituate) collected a loose ball on the right
wing and headed towards the middle of the field, then fired a low
shot from the upper left corner of the penalty area into the lower
right corner of the net.
SNHU senior goalkeeper
Anastasia Carson (Wylie, Texas/Manchester (N.H.)
Memorial) made seven saves in goal, six over the
final 45-minutes.
Franklin Pierce senior
Aase Kibsgaard (Korgen, Norway) made no
stops as the Ravens finished with a 17-5 shots advantage for the
match, including 14-2 in the second half.
MATCH
STATISTICS
