Thorpe, just left of center in blue shirt, was DC United's reserve
goalkeeper in Wednesday's US Open Cup Final.
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Former Franklin Pierce All-American
a reserve goalkeeper for DC United as they capture second Lamar
Hunt US Open Cup
RINDGE, N.H. (September 4,
2008) - Former Franklin Pierce University All-America
goalkeeper James Thorpe (East Longmeadow,
Mass./Bridgton Academy), the 2007 National Soccer Coaches
Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas Division II Player of the
Year, collected a gold medal as his DC United team captured its
second Lamar Hunt US Open Cup title with a 2-1 victory over the
Charleston Battery at historic RFK Stadium last night.
Thorpe, who was in DC United's
18-man squad as its backup goalkeeper for the final, had a
front-row seat as his club captured its second US Open Cup
championship - and the most decorated club in Major League Soccer
(MLS) notched its 12th major domestic and international
title. As part of the official squad, Thorpe received a gold medal
in the postmatch ceremony after a second half goal from Fred in the
50th minute broke a 1-1 deadlock.
Thorpe, selected by DC United in the
fourth round of the 2008 MLS Supplemental Draft, has seen all of
his game action for United in the reserve division. However, he has
been a regular for the first team, appearing as the reserve
goalkeeper in 12 matches since July 1 - including each of United's
last three matches.
Thorpe, the first three-time
All-America selection in program history and the first four-time
NE-10 Goalkeeper of the Year in Conference history, capped a
record-breaking four year career at Franklin Pierce by leading the
Ravens to the 2007 National Championship. He completely re-wrote
the Franklin Pierce goalkeeping record books, setting NCAA records
for all divisions with his 8,391-minutes, 11-seconds, in goal and
93 career matches played. His program and Northeast-10 record 49
shutouts are just one shy of the NCAA Division II mark, while his
0.66 career goals against average shattered the program record and
set a new NE-10 standard and his .811 career save percentage is
good for second in program history. The Ravens posted an 82-16-17
record over four years with him in goal, including a 41-4-5 mark in
Conference play - going 28-0-5 over his final 33 regular season
matches in the NE-10.
Franklin Pierce (1-1-0, 0-0-0 NE-10)
is back in action on Sunday, when it visits No. 9 Dowling College
in a rematch of last year's NCAA II quarterfinal, which the Ravens
won 2-1 en route to their first National Championship. The match
was moved to Sunday at 3:30 p.m., due to an unplayable weather
forecast for Saturday.
