Freshman Viktor Goncalves came off the bench to net a second-half
brace to lead the Ravens to a season-opening win tonight in his
collegiate debut.
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Gonçalves nets brace in
collegiate debut to lead reigning National Champions to
season-opening victory
Boxscore
RINDGE,
N.H. (August 28, 2008) - Defending NCAA
Division II Champion Franklin Pierce University, ranked No. 1 in
the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas
preseason poll, opened its season with a 2-1 victory over the
University of Bridgeport on day one of the 2008 Labor Day Classic
at Sodexo Field tonight.
Freshman forward Viktor
Gonçalves (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) made a big
splash in his collegiate debut, netting both second-half goals for
Franklin Pierce off the bench. Senior Marek Hawrylik
(Olsztyn, Poland/The Winchendon (Mass.) School) added an
assist on Gonçalves match-winning goal. Sophomore goalkeeper
Carl Contrascier (Hinkley, Ohio/Hinkley) made one
first half save to preserve the win in his debut for the Ravens.
Freshman Patric Brundin
(Goteborg, Sweden) netted the goal for Bridgeport, while
sophomore goalkeeper Milos Suljagic (Belgrade,
Serbia) made two saves in goal.
Sophomore Carl Contrascier made his collegiate debut as well and
made one first half save to preserve victory.
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After a scoreless opening half of
play in which Franklin Pierce out-shot Bridgeport, 4-1, the Ravens
opened the scoring when Gonçalves opened his scoring account
by knocking in a loose ball after a failed clear attempt by the
Bridgeport defense 4:19 into the second half. Bridgeport equalized
just over ten minutes later, when Brundin pounced on a failed clear
by Franklin Pierce and slotted the ball into the goal at 59:49.
Gonçalves bagged the winning
goal in the 72nd minute, when he one-timed a sharp low
cross from the left channel by Hawrylik at the far post to complete
his debut brace.
Franklin Pierce finished the match
with a 6-4 advantage in shots, with corner kicks even at three
aside. Bridgeport also cleared a ball of its defensive line in the
32nd minute on a header by sophomore back Adit
Phataraprasit (Bangkok, Thailand) off a corner kick.
Franklin Pierce (1-0, 0-0 NE-10) is
back in action for day two of the Labor Day Classic on Saturday
night, when it hosts Dominican College of Blauvelt (N.Y.) at 7:30
p.m. Dominican (1-0) opened its season with a commanding 3-0
victory over Southern Connecticut State University (0-1) in
tonight's opening match. Bridgeport (0-1, 0-0 ECC) will face
Southern Connecticut at Sodexo Field on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
Dominican/Southern
Connecticut Recap
