Thorpe sets single-season shutout
record as Ravens advance to semifinal round
RINDGE, N.H. (October 31,
2004) - Fourth-seeded Franklin Pierce took an early lead,
and then iced the match late, in claiming a 2-0 victory over
fifth-seeded Merrimack College in quarterfinal round action of the
Northeast-10 Conference men's soccer tournament tonight. The match
was the first night match held on the Franklin Pierce campus in
school history.
Franklin Pierce (14-5, 10-3 NE-10)
advances to Wednesday's semifinal round where it will face
top-seeded and No. 2-ranked Southern Connecticut State University
in New Haven, Conn., at 7 p.m. Southern Connecticut advanced with a
4-0 victory over eighth-seeded Bentley College this afternoon.
Merrimack College sees its season end at 13-5-1 overall (8-4-1
NE-10).
While he was largely untested on
the day, freshman goalkeeper James Thorpe (East
Longmeadow, Mass./Bridgton Academy) posted one save
to preserve his 11th shutout of the season to surpass
the program's single-season record of ten, set by Marno Olafson in
1991. The clean sheet added to the Ravens team record with their
13th shutout of the season.
Grad student Tom McNeil
(Paisley, Scotland) assisted on both Franklin Pierce
markers as the Ravens scored early, then iced the match with a late
goal.
McNeil stole a Merrimack clearing
attempt in the 14th minute, then spotted grad student
Christopher Joyce (Jarrow, England) with
a pass from the left side to Joyce for a blast from the right
channel past senior goalkeeper Keith Boudreau
(Forestdale, Mass./Sandwich) just 13:07 into the
match.
The early goal was a contrast to
the regular season encounter between these two sides, which McNeil
ended in the 100th minute with the lone marker of the
match.
The Ravens controlled the match in
the first half, enjoying an 11-2 advantage in shots, but Merrimack
pushed forward for the equalizer in the second half and posted a
7-6 shots advantage in that stanza.
Merrimack nearly drew even in the
53rd minute off a Thorpe turnover deep in the Ravens
end. Senior Diego Gabadian (Montevideo,
Uraguay) collected the loose ball and dribbled into
good position for a shot to a wide open net from the top of the
penalty area, but the low roller was blocked by Franklin Pierce
freshman back Michel Vitulano (Montreal, Quebec/College
de Maisonneuve) before it could cross the goal line.
Franklin Pierce got an important
insurance goal in the 80th minute after Merrimack was
whistled for a foul on the right flank 40-yards from goal. McNeil
served the free kick in towards goal and found freshman
Gijs Roodbeen (Nijmegen, The Netherlands)
for a near post header that caught Boudreau out of position and
rolled slowly over the goal line.
Boudreau finished the match with
four saves for Merrimack.
MATCH
STATISTICS
