2005 NSCAA/adidas Division II Player of the Year earns three-year deal with Odd Grenland in Tippeligaen

RINDGE, N.H. (March 16, 2006) - Franklin Pierce's first NSCAA/adidas Division II Men's Soccer Player of the Year and two-time first team All-American, Christopher Joyce (Jarrow, England), has signed a three-year contract with Odd Grenland BK of the Norwegian Tippeligaen, Norway's Premier Division.

Joyce, selected in the first round (sixth overall) by FC Dallas in Major League Soccer's Supplemental Draft in late January, earned his first professional contract after a successful tryout for Odd Grenland in Skien, Norway, last week. Skein is located on the southeast coast of Norway, across the North Sea from Germany, about 40-50 miles southwest of Oslo. Joyce, who scored a goal for FC Dallas in a preseason match against the University of Memphis, put an MLS contract on hold to participate in the tryout.

Odd Grenland, looking to replace former Southern Connecticut State University All-American Olivier Occean, who transferred to league rival Lillestrom SK in December, added Joyce to a long list of forwards to tryout for the team over the last few weeks. Occean led the club in scoring each of the last two seasons. Joyce impressed Odd from the outset with his work ethic, strength and goal-scoring ability. During an intra-squad match in his first training session with the club, Joyce netted two goals and played a role in a third.            

According to a local website (www.ta.no), Joyce scored his first goal on a header and the second with a blast from 16 meters into the right corner of the net.

"Hopefully I'll fit in here," Joyce told reporters after the training session. "The main part of my game is scoring goals, how they come isn't as important. To play here would absolutely be a step up. It was a high level. I'm impressed with the drills the coach made up and how organized the players were."

Asked how much he would cost the club, Joyce chuckled and responded: "Not too much I think. I'm a student."

After a full week of training with the team, Joyce dressed for Odd's preseason friendly with second-division Stromsgodet. According to match reports, he shocked most of the spectators by entering the pitch in shorts despite the air temperature of 23-degrees Fahrenheit for the first 45-minutes. It is common for players in Norway to wear training pants during early season matches with temps well below freezing.

"I didn't know how cold it was out there and got on long pants in intermission," Joyce said to reporters. "That felt good."             

Joyce scored in the 58^th minute with a header off a cross from Steffen Hangen for what proved to be the winning goal in Odd's 3-2 victory. In addition to scoring the winner, Joyce impressed with his "nose for goal" and was close to scoring a second goal after a one-on-one with the goalkeeper after 77 minutes.

"I should have scored," Joyce admitted. As for the goal, "It was an excellent cross and all I had to do was head it in."

One goal proved to be enough for Odd Grenland's management as Joyce was offered a three-year contract that night. Joyce signed the deal over the weekend and after a short stay in his hometown just outside of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, he has rejoined the club and will head for Cyprus, where they will resume preseason training.

"This is what I was hoping for," said Joyce. "Now I'm just looking forward to doing a good job for the club."

"He's a different type than the other forwards we have," Odd coach Arne Sandsto told reporters after the match last Friday. "Chris will fit well here. He can fight, keep the defenders away and work as a target man. Besides, his mobility around the field is good."            

Odd Grenland, winners of a record 12 Norwegian Cups, finished ninth out of 14 clubs in the Tippeligaen last season.

"Considering Chris has only been here for a few days and this was his first match, I think this was very positive," Odd captain Tommy Svindal Larsen said to reporters. "We played well and he was dangerous all the time."

After a brief break, Odd Grenland will travel to Cyprus to continue its preseason training ahead of its season-opening match with reigning League Champions Valerenga IF on Sunday, April 9. Valerenga features Norwegian international star Tore Andre Flo, who has starred in the past for Chelsea in the English Premier League and Glasgow Rangers in Scotland. Odd also has one final preseason match with IK Start on April 2.

Joyce, the 2005 Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Year, capped his career as the first two-time first team All-American in Franklin Pierce men's soccer history after also earning first team All-New England and first team All-Northeast-10 honors for two-straight years. He finished his final season at the College with an NCAA Division II best 67 points and 29 goals to go with an NE-10-leading nine assists.

In addition to his goal total leading the nation, Joyce's 29 markers matched the program's single-season record set by Bojan Vuckovic in 1992. He also set a school-record with a Conference-leading eight match-winning goals, while his 67 points finished just four shy of Vuckovic's school record.

Joyce registered eight multi-goal matches and five matches with five or more points. He also set a program record with two goals in a 14-second span - the third fastest consecutive goals in NCAA Division II history by one player - en route to a three goal and two assist outing against Saint Michael's College on October 15, 2005.

Joyce finished his two-year career at Franklin Pierce ranked fourth in program history with 51 goals, sixth with 119 points and 15^th with 17 assists in 50 career matches. He led the NE-10 in scoring and goals both years at the College and set an NCAA Division II Tournament record with nine career goals and finished with a Division II record-matching 20 points in eight career NCAA Tournament matches played. Joyce was named the Most Outstanding Offensive Player in the NCAA Tournament New England Regional in 2004 and 2005 and was also selected to the All-Tournament team at the NCAA Division II Final Four this past year.

Franklin Pierce (16-6-5, 10-1-2 NE-10) advanced to the National Championship match for the first time in program history before dropping a 3-1 decision to No. 1-ranked Fort Lewis (Colo.) College. The Ravens, ranked No. 2 in the final NSCAA/adidas Division II poll, reached the NCAA Division II Final Four for the second time in program history after claiming the Northeast-10 Conference regular season championship - their first Conference title since 1995.

Information in this release taken from www.ta.no and www.varden.no. Translation assistance provided by Aase Kibsgaard (Franklin Pierce, 2004), a former women's soccer player at the College and native of Korgen, Norway.