Hislop hat trick leads Ravens past #5 Southern New Hampshire

MANCHESTER, N.H. (November 5, 2003) - Top-seeded Franklin Pierce, ranked No. 7 in this week's National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas Division II poll, jumped out to an early two-goal lead and went on to post a 3-1 victory over fifth-seeded Southern New Hampshire University at Penman Field this afternoon.

The match was moved to SNHU's campus due to continued wet fields on the Franklin Pierce campus.

Franklin Pierce (17-2) advances to Sunday's Championship match where it will be looking to capture a record fourth-straight NE-10 Tournament title. The match will be played on the Rindge campus at the Field Hockey/Lacrosse complex at 1 p.m.      

The Ravens will face second-seeded and No. 11-ranked Merrimack College (19-2) who posted a 2-1 victory over third-seeded and No. 21-ranked College of Saint Rose (14-4-1) tonight in a match that was also moved to SNHU because of unplayable conditions at Merrimack.

Southern New Hampshire (11-4-4) is in good position to receive one of four NCAA Division II Tournament berths to be awarded in the New England Region, which will be announced on Monday. The Penwomen made one previous NCAA Tournament appearance in 1997.

Sophomore forward Laura Hislop (Belfast, Northern Ireland) led Franklin Pierce this afternoon as she netted all three of its goals to post her fourth hat trick of the season and second-straight. She also registered a treble in Sunday's NE-10 quarterfinal victory over Pace University and has moved ahead of teammate Meghan Welcome (Haverhill, Mass./Haverhill) for the Conference lead in goals with 25 this season. Welcome has netted 23 goals this fall.

"I felt like they were more team goals than my goals," said Hislop. "The girls passed the ball well and put me in a good position to score every time. I really didn't have to do much from there."

Welcome found Hislop with a pass at midfield where she beat one defender before firing off a shot from the far side that caromed off the near post and in 6:51 into the match.           

Hislop struck again 5:53 later to put the Ravens up 2-0. Senior back Alison Considine (Needham, Mass./Needham) intercepted a pass in her own defensive zone, then dribbled past midfield where she passed to sophomore Sonya Hughes (Balbriggan, Ireland) who slid a pass to a wide open Hislop for a shot to the lower left corner at the 12:44-mark.

Southern New Hampshire started to control possession late in the first half and carried it over into the second when it cut the Franklin Pierce lead in half. Junior midfielder Liz Wheeler (Manchester, N.H./Holderness School) took a corner kick from the right side and found senior Amanda Johnson (North Franklin, Conn./Norwich Free Academy) in the middle of the penalty area for a shot off her body that trickled over the line 3:37 into the second half.

Franklin Pierce answered less than seven minutes later to regain its two-goal cushion. Junior Martta Makila (Vantaa, Finland) had a free kick from just inside midfield and passed it off to Hislop, who turned to the inside past a defender and fired a shot into the top shelf over SNHU senior goalkeeper Anastasia Carson (Wylie, Texas/Manchester (N.H.) Memorial) at 55:12.

The Ravens out-shot Southern New Hampshire by a 14-8 margin for the match, 9-3 over the final 45 minutes, and held the Penwomen to just one shot (off target) after they scored their goal.

"We seemed a little nervous out there at times," said Franklin Pierce Head Coach Jeff Bailey. "In a lot of ways the match was similar to the last one we played here (a 2-1 Franklin Pierce victory on October 25), except we were able to get two quick goals, but then we let them right back in it."

Senior goalkeeper Aase Kibsgaard (Korgen, Norway) made two saves (both first half) to preserve the victory. Carson finished with six stops (four second half).

"I didn't really know how (the team) would react," said Bailey on the change in venue for the match. "We were able to get a quick lead and it helped, but I thought we just stopped, where with a couple of passes we could have had more."

MATCH STATISTICS