East Longmeadow, Mass., native honored for third time this season

RINDGE, N.H. (November 1, 2004) - Franklin Pierce freshman James Thorpe (East Longmeadow, Mass./Bridgton Academy) was named the Northeast-10 Conference Goalkeeper of the Week this afternoon.

Thorpe, who earns the award for a third time this season, averaged 2.5 saves per match in posting a pair of shutouts in a 2-0 week for Franklin Pierce. He made one save to preserve his program record-breaking 11^th shutout of the season in Sunday's 2-0 victory over fifth-seeded Merrimack College in the NE-10 Quarterfinals. Thorpe collected four stops in the Ravens 1-0 win at Bentley College in their regular season finale on Tuesday.   

Thorpe ranks third in the Northeast-10 in his first collegiate season with a 0.72 goals against average to go with a .812 save percentage (5^th NE-10) and Conference-best 11 shutouts. He carries a scoreless streak of 269:30 into this week's action.

Thorpe has etched his name into the Franklin Pierce record books in several categories this season. His 11 shutouts surpassed the previous mark of ten set by Marno Olafson in 1991 and are already good for sixth place on the program's career list. Thorpe posted a program-record scoreless minute streak of 518:38, surpassing the previous record of 445:04 held by Rob Scholz in 1998. His current goals against average is 0.29 better than the single-season mark of 1.01 set by Steve Quinones in 1988.

Thorpe has also played a significant role in team records that have fallen or are on pace to fall this season. The Ravens have set a program record with 13 shutouts this season, smashing the previous mark of ten set by the College's Final Four team in 1991. The Ravens 13 goals allowed is six below the record of 19 set in 1995 and the Ravens also matched consecutive shutout record with five-straight during one stretch this fall.  

Franklin Pierce (14-5, 10-3 NE-10) is back in action on Wednesday for semifinal round action of the Northeast-10 Tournament. The fourth-seeded Ravens are on the road to face top-seeded and No. 2-ranked Southern Connecticut State University at 7 p.m. The winner will advance to Sunday's NE-10 Championship match (1 p.m.) to face the winner of Wednesday's other semifinal between second-seeded Le Moyne College and third-seeded UMass Lowell.