Thorpe named NE-10 Goalkeeper of the Week for second time this seasonGuimaraes collects first NE-10 Freshman of the Week award

RINDGE, N.H. (November 1, 2005) - Two members of the Northeast-10 Conference regular season champion men's soccer team received weekly honors from the Conference on Monday.

Sophomore James Thorpe (East Longmeadow, Mass./Bridgton Academy) was named the NE-10's Goalkeeper of the Week for the second time this season (seventh career), while midfielder Raphael Guimaraes (Marlboro, Mass./Ashland) collected NE-10 Freshman of the Week accolades for the first time this season.

Thorpe, the 2004 NE-10 Goalkeeper and Freshman of the Year, did not surrender a goal in 270-minutes, averaging 3.33 saves per match, as he racked up three shutouts in a 3-0 week for Franklin Pierce as it clinched its first Conference title of any kind since 1995. He opened the week with six saves in Monday's 3-0 victory at Saint Anselm College. In Thursday's regular season title-clinching 4-0 win over No. 13 Southern Connecticut State University, Thorpe stopped two shots before rounding out the week with two saves in Sunday's 1-0 victory over eighth-seeded Southern New Hampshire University in the NE-10 quarterfinals.

Thorpe enters this week's action ranked in the top three in most goalkeeping categories in the Northeast-10. He has posted a 0.83 goals against average (3^rd NE-10) and .795 save percentage (3^rd) with eight shutouts (3^rd) this season. He anchors a Franklin Pierce defensive unit that has allowed just 19 goals (5^th NE-10) with a Conference-best 11 shutouts.

In NE-10 play, the Ravens defense has been even stingier, yielding a Conference-low  nine goals (0.66/match - leads the NE-10) with a Conference-best eight clean sheets. Thorpe has posted a 0.68 GAA in Conference play (2^nd) with a .822 save percentage (4^th) and five shutouts (3^rd).

With his three clean sheets last week, Thorpe moved into a tie for second all-time with 22 career shutouts, matching Marno Olafson's (1991-94) total. Thorpe is now just five shy of Franklin Pierce Hall of Famer Steve Quinones, who totaled a school-record 27 shutouts from 1987-90, in two seasons. Thorpe's 0.74 career goals against average is on pace to shatter Jeff Burstein's (1994-97) program record of 1.16, while his .812 career save percentage is currently good for second all-time.            

Guimaraes sparked the Ravens offense with three goals, including two match-winners, registering a marker in each match during a 3-0 week. He netted the opening goal in Monday's 3-0 victory at Saint Anselm, before scoring an insurance marker in Thursday's regular season championship-clinching 4-0 triumph over No. 13 Southern Connecticut State. Guimaraes had the lone goal in the 74^th minute to lift the top-seeded Ravens to a 1-0 victory over eighth-seeded Southern New Hampshire in Sunday's NE-10 quarterfinal.

Guimaraes ranks third on the team with 13 points on five goals and three assists. His three match-winning strikes are good for second on the team (6^th NE-10).

Franklin Pierce (13-4-3, 10-1-2 NE-10), which claimed its first NE-10 title of any kind with its regular season crown, has moved back into the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas Division II rankings at No. 14 this week. The Ravens won their first conference championship of any kind since its 1995 New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) title. Franklin Pierce is back in action tomorrow when it hosts fifth-seeded UMass Lowell (10-5-3, 8-4-1 NE-10) in a Northeast-10 semifinal match at 7 p.m. The winner of the match will advance to Sunday's NE-10 Championship to face the winner of tomorrow's other semifinal between seventh-seeded Bryant University and third-seeded Le Moyne College.