Senior Frantz Francois played a role in both Franklin Pierce goals,
netting the match-winner in the 99th minute. PHOTO BY Richard
Orr Sports Photography.
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Francois overtime goal lifts third-seeded Ravens past
sixth-seeded Owls
Boxscore
RINDGE, N.H. (November 2,
2008) - Third-seeded Franklin Pierce University, the
defending NCAA Division II Champions, rallied for a 2-1 overtime
victory over sixth-seeded Southern Connecticut State University in
quarterfinal round action of the 2008 Northeast-10 Conference men's
soccer championship at Sodexo Field this evening.
Franklin Pierce (12-7-1, 9-3-1
NE-10) advances to Wednesday's semifinal round and will travel to
Manchester, N.H., to face second-seeded and No. 5-ranked Southern
New Hampshire University (14-2-3, 9-1-3 NE-10). The Penmen advanced
with a 1-0 victory over seventh-seeded Assumption College (6-7-5,
5-4-4 NE-10) earlier today. Match time for Wednesday will be
announced on Monday. Southern Connecticut State sees its season
come to a close at 6-7-5 overall, 5-3-5 in the Northeast-10.
Senior midfielder Frantz
Francois (Saint-Marc, Haiti/Palm Beach Lakes (Fla.))
played a role in both Franklin Pierce goals as the Ravens erased a
one goal deficit early in the second half, netting the
match-winning goal himself with just 1:27 to play in the first
overtime. Freshman Viktor Gonçalves (Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil) also scored for the Ravens, while classmates
Tom Reilly (Wallasey, England) and Michael
Busto (Honolulu, Hawaii/Punahou School) each dished
assists.
Senior Djordje Jankovic
(Sabac, Serbia) scored the lone goal for Southern
Connecticut, who was out shot 17-4 by Franklin Pierce on the night,
including a 14-3 advantage after halftime.
Freshman Viktor Gonçalves equalized the match with his 12th
goal of the season. PHOTO BY Richard Orr Sports
Photography.
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Freshman Andrew Esposito
(East Haven, Conn./East Haven) made nine saves in goal to
keep Southern in the match, including six in the second half alone.
Freshman Vinny Papageorgiou (Wilmington,
Mass./Wilmington) finished with no stops for Franklin
Pierce.
After a first half which saw few
offensive chances (four combined shots), Southern opened the
scoring on what would prove to be its fourth and final shot of the
night 9:22 into the second half as Jankovic knocked in a sharp
cross from the left side by freshman Ian Serrao
(Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury) into an open net at the
far post.
Franklin Pierce answered right
away, equalizing the match just 3:03 later. Francois whipped a
cross in from the right side that was headed back towards the
middle of the field by Reilly and Gonçalves settled the ball
and fired a rocket from the top of the 18 into the left side of the
net in the 58th minute.
Esposito made five saves to close
out regulation for Southern Connecticut and force overtime.
Esposito added another stop just 30-seconds into extra time, and
sophomore Johan Torstensson (Falköping,
Sweden) saw a shot just knick the top of the cross bar
before Francois ended the match in the 99th minute. He
took a pass from Busto and walked in one-on-one with Esposito
before drilling a shot into the left side of the net from 14-yards
out to send the Ravens through to the semifinals.
