Ravens victory clinches
fourth-straight NE-10 regular season title
RINDGE, N.H. (October 23,
2004) - Franklin Pierce, ranked No. 5 in this week's
National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas
women's Division II poll, clinched a fourth-straight Northeast-10
Conference regular season crown by holding on for a 2-1 victory
over Southern New Hampshire University at Sodexho Field this
afternoon.
Franklin Pierce claims its tenth
regular season conference crown over the last 11 years with today's
victory and will be the top seed in the upcoming Northeast-10
tournament which begins with quarterfinal round action on Sunday,
October 31, at a time to be announced.
The Ravens scored both of their
goals in the first 25 minutes, then withstood a big push from
Southern New Hampshire after going a player down when senior
Meghan Welcome (Haverhill,
Mass./Haverhill) was issued a pair of yellow cards
within a span of 30-seconds early in the second
half.
Junior All-American
Laura Hislop (Belfast, Northern Ireland)
opened the scoring in the 18th minute. Sophomore
Kirsi Ekberg (Klaukkala, Finland) passed
the ball to junior Sonya Hughes (Balbriggan,
Ireland), whose side-foot pass sent Hislop in
one-on-one with SNHU sophomore goalkeeper Jessica
Langley (Norwich, Conn./Norwich Free Academy) for a
shot into the lower right corner.
Welcome put the Ravens up 2-0 in
the 26th minute when she fired in a rebound in close
after Langley could not handle a blast from Hughes from just inside
the penalty area. The goal would prove to be the match-winner and
was the 25th of Welcome's career, moving her within one
of the program's all-time record of 26 winners set by former
three-time All-American Pauliina Miettinen.
Welcome was then booked twice
within a 30-second span in the 58th minute, giving
Southern New Hampshire a player advantage for the final 32:09. The
Penwomen took immediate advantage and pulled within a goal in the
59th minute as senior Denise Nicoletta
(Westford, Mass./Westford Academy) passed a square
ball to classmate Lindsay Parks (Littleton,
Mass./Littleton), who a drilled shot from the right
channel into the lower left corner of the net at 58:04.
SNHU kept the pressure on the
Ravens, out shooting them 12-8 for the half, including 7-0 over the
final 11:27 of the match. All three of Franklin Pierce freshman
goalkeeper Jenna Mello's (Londonderry,
N.H./Londonderry) saves came in the final 5:19 of
regulation. Langley finished with four stops for Southern New
Hampshire.
Franklin Pierce (14-1, 12-1 NE-10)
rounds out the regular season on Wednesday as it hosts Saint Anselm
College at 3:30 p.m. Southern New Hampshire (6-8-3, 5-6-3 NE-10)
rounds out the regular season with a non-conference match at
Adelphi University on Wednesday at 3 p.m. The Penwomen's postseason
hopes now hinge on the results of three teams who sit two points
behind them in eighth through tenth place over the next few days.
MATCH
STATISTICS
