Sophomore midfielder Johan Torstensson was named the Jeff Burstein
Man-of-the-Match by head coach Marco Koolman for his efforts in
midfield for the Ravens. PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes.
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Ravens NE-10 regular season unbeaten streak snapped on late
goal off scramble
Boxscore
LOWELL, Mass. (October 8,
2008) - Defending NCAA Division II Champion Franklin
Pierce University saw its regular season unbeaten run in Conference
play come to an end with a 1-0 setback to the University of
Massachusetts Lowell in Northeast-10 men's soccer action at Cushing
Field tonight.
In a tightly contested match where
true scoring chances were at a premium, UMass Lowell took advantage
of a loose ball inside the six after a corner kick to net the
decisive goal. Junior back Rudy Kocandrle (Northboro,
Mass./Algonquin) tapped in a loose ball at the far post
during a scramble after Franklin Pierce failed to clear a corner
kick in the 77th minute. The corner came from junior
Jhony Valencia (Lowell, Mass./Lowell) on the right
side and fell to classmate Jeffery Danso (Worcester,
Mass./Burncoat), whose shot was blocked by a defender in
the left channel before Kocandrle picked up the scraps for his
first goal of the season.
Franklin Pierce saw its unbeaten
streak in NE-10 regular season matches halted at 21 matches
(18-0-3) dating back to a 1-0 setback at Saint Michael's College on
October 14, 2006. Sophomore midfielder Johan Torstensson
(Falköping, Sweden) was named the Jeff Burstein
Man-of-the-Match for his efforts by Ravens head coach Marco
Koolman. The award is given to Franklin Pierce's top
player in its annual regular season match with UMass Lowell in
memory of the 1998 Walter Peterson Male Student-Athlete of the Year
who perished in an automobile accident near his hometown of
Beachwood, N.J., on July 26, 2001. The former Ravens goalkeeper and
standout baseball player, inducted into Franklin Pierce's Athletics
Hall of Fame in 2007, served as an assistant coach at UMass Lowell
for two years after graduating from Franklin Pierce.
Junior goalkeeper Ryan
Richards (Holden, Mass./Wachusett) made two saves to
preserve his fourth shutout of the season. Freshman Vinny
Papageorgiou (Wilmington, Mass./Wilmington) was credited with six
stops for Franklin Pierce.
Franklin Pierce had a great
opportunity to take an early lead in the match as senior Frantz
Francois (Saint-Marc, Haiti/Palm Beach Lakes (Fla.)) was stopped by
Richards from close range less than seven minutes in.
Franklin Pierce (7-5-1, 5-1-1
NE-10) is back in action on Saturday when it hosts Assumption
College at 7 p.m. UMass Lowell (5-2-3, 4-1-2 NE-10) hosts The
College of Saint Rose on Saturday at 1 p.m.
