Clifton's 89th-minute winner the difference in 1-0 victory over Railsplitters

ORANGE BEACH, Ala. (December 2, 2007) - The Franklin Pierce University men's soccer team captured its first NCAA Division II National Championship in program history with a 1-0 victory over 16th-ranked Lincoln Memorial University (Tenn.) at the Orange Beach Sportsplex this afternoon.

Franklin Pierce (17-2-4) claims the sixth National Championship in University history, adding to its five women's soccer national championships in the mid-to-late 1990's. The Ravens first men's title comes in the program's third Final Four appearance and after they were national runners up in 2005. Lincoln Memorial University (20-4-1) saw its quest for its first national championship come up just short after making its second-straight Final Four appearance and first title match.

"The one thing we stress in this program is that we can all be great players that you need personality and character," said Franklin Pierce Head Coach Marco Koolman. "I think in those last two areas, these seniors have passed along that message to anyone who joined the program. I'm just so happy for these players, our University and alumni."

Grad student David Clifton (London, England) earned Most Outstanding Offensive Player honors of the Final Four as he netted the lone goal of the match with just 1:50 to play in regulation. He took a pass on the right channel from junior Frantz Francois (Saint-Marc, Haiti/Palm Beach Lakes (Fla.)) and chipped a shot over LMU senior goalkeeper Brent Cole (Knoxville, Tenn.) and into the upper left corner of the net for his NCAA Division II record ninth goal of the Tournament.

"[The goal] happened so fast, I just tried to lift it over and it went in," said Clifton. "It's really nice to break records, but it's most satisfying to win as a team and represent the University."

Clifton, who broke the Division II record for career tournament goals with ten, scored Franklin Pierce's last eight goals of the season and nine of the Ravens 11 markers in the NCAA Tournament. He capped his season with 25 goals and three assists for 53 points.

"In a game like this it takes scoring one more goal than the opposition," said Koolman. "It was very much an appropriate goal for David to score." 

Junior Frantz Francois poses with the national championship trophy. He assisted on the match-winner and was named to the All-Tournament team. NCAA PHOTOS

Senior All-America goalkeeper James Thorpe (East Longmeadow, Mass./Bridgton Academy) was forced to make just one save to preserve the championship victory and his 12^th shutout of the season to earn Most Outstanding Defensive Player honors for the Final Four. The shutout was the 49^th of his four-year career - just one shy of the Division II record of 50 set by former Southern Connecticut State University All-American Bo Oshoniyi in the early 1990's.

Thorpe also broke the NCAA all-division record for minutes played by a goalkeeper less than six minutes into the contest. His 8,391:11 career minutes played surpass the previous collegiate record of 8,306 set by Steve McCullough, who played for UNC Ashville and Marquette from 1991-94.

Joining Clifton and Thorpe on the All-Tournament team were Francois and senior backs Michel Vitulano (Montreal, Quebec/College de Maisonneuve) and Bisharra Ettienne (East Elmhurst, N.Y./Dominica State College).

Lincoln Memorial posted a 12-7 advantage in shots for the match, but placed just one shot on target. The Ravens had two shots on goal and enjoyed the better run of play and scoring chances all afternoon.

"Our sport is so unforgiving sometimes it makes no sense," said Lincoln Memorial Head Coach Helio D'Anna. "We live in a reality where not necessarily possessing, out-possessing, out-shooting our out-doing anything guarantees anything. Franklin Pierce is a great team, but we feel we did what it took to win the game. That's soccer and that's why we love this game."

Cole finished with one save for LMU, that coming less than four minutes into the contest when he charged off his line to stop a drive by junior Marek Hawrylik (Olztyn, Poland/The Winchendon (Mass.) School) from point-blank range after a nice give-and-go with Clifton.

"I think we struggled in the first half," said Koolman. "Part of it was nerves and some players not realizing what was at stake. Part of that we set straight at halftime and made some tactical changes." 

Franklin Pierce had a couple of tense moments leading up to Clifton's winner. Thorpe had a corner kick slip through his hands and fall to the feet of a Lincoln Memorial player at the far post, but the scramble only produced a shot that flipped up over the crossbar. Thorpe was also fooled by a free kick from 40-yards out by senior Guilherme Alves (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) that got over his head but caromed off the left post in the 65^th minute.

"I kind of cheated off my line and forgot about the wind," said Thorpe. "When he hit it I realized it was over my head. When it hit the post, I was shocked and luckily it didn't go in."

The second LMU chance came just moments after Francois produced Franklin Pierce's best chance aside from the goal in the match. He worked a give-and-go with Clifton and broke in one-on-one with Cole, deking the keeper to produce an open net, but could only put the ball off the side netting from a tight angle on the left channel.               

"For everyone involved in the program, it's been a long hard battle, but I am proud, happy, and delighted for our school," said Koolman. "It's great and wonderful to be the national champions."

2007 NCAA Division II Championship 
All-Tournament Team
David Clifton, Franklin Pierce (Most Outstanding Offensive Player)
James Thorpe, Franklin Pierce (Most Outstanding Defensive Player)
Bisharra Ettienne, Franklin Pierce
Michel Vitulano, Franklin Pierce
Frantz Francois, Franklin Pierce
Victor Souza, Lincoln Memorial
Claudio Rico, Lincoln Memorial
Leonardo de Barros, Lincoln Memorial
Nelson Pizarro, Lincoln Memorial
Brian Martinez, Midwestern State
Melford James, Jr., Montevallo