Ravens record fourth-straight shutout victory

BOXSCORE

RINDGE, N.H. (October 19, 2010) – The Franklin Pierce University women's soccer team won its fourth-straight match on Tuesday afternoon with a convincing 5-0 win over Stonehill at Sodexo Field in Rindge. The Ravens, who are receiving honorable-mention votes in this week's NSCAA Division II National Top-25 Poll, improved to 11-3-1 overall and 9-3-1 in Northeast-10 action. Each of the Ravens' wins during their four-match streak have come via shutout.

Junior forward Amanda Panaro (Rockland, Mass.) had an outstanding afternoon as she scored three goals and assisted on another to take sole possession of first place in the Northeast-10 in goals scored with 17. Panaro, who earlier in the day was named to the conference's Weekly Honor Roll, had entered the contest tied with Stonehill's Kirstie St. Martin for the league lead in tallies with 14. St. Martin was limited to just one shot during the match on Tuesday.

Franklin Pierce's defensive unit didn't just limit St. Martin, but the entire Skyhawk offense during the 90 minutes of action. The Ravens yielded just eight shots, including five on goal. Senior mid-back Kelly Weygand (Bridgewater, Mass.) anchored the unit, which has allowed just 12 shots on goal combined during the past three contests. The strong showing versus Stonehill was a fitting performance for Weygand, who earlier in the day was named the NE-10 Defensive Player of the Week in leading the defensive charge in a pair of 1-0 road wins last week against American International and Southern Connecticut State.

Junior goalkeeper Jocelyn Leon (Lenox, Mass.), who prior to the game was named the league's Goalkeeper of the Week, stopped all three shots she faced in a little more than 80 minutes of action. She gave way to sophomore keeper Casey Edward (Marshfield, Mass.) with a little under 10 minutes remaining, and Edward made two saves late to preserve the shutout.

Panaro got the scoring started with goals at the 6:46 and 15:41 marks of the first half. Her first goal in the seventh minute came off a Shona Franklin (Birmingham, England) crossing pass in front of the net, which Panaro was able to lift to the upper part of the goal. Panaro's second tally in the 16^th minute came off a Margret Thorolfsdottir (Reykjavit, Iceland) crossing p ass, which she was able to blast to the upper left corner of the goal past Stonehill goalkeeper Amy Wheaton. The Ravens held a commanding 13-3 edge in shots in the opening 45 minutes.

The game went without a goal until late when the Ravens strung together three tallies in an eight-minute span, starting with Aya Noguchi's (Tokyo, Japan) first career collegiate goal in the 72^nd minute as she scored off a free kick from the top of the box.

Classmate Jannice Sundqvist (Hamosand, Sweden) made it 4-0 Franklin Pierce in the 75^th minute when Panaro sent her a pass in front of the goal, which the rookie was able to slam into the back of the net for the tally.

Panaro capped her amazing seven-point afternoon with her third goal in the 80^th minute when she tracked down a long pass from junior midfielder Tori Gikas (Sydney, Australia), dribbled in about 10 yards and struck a shot to the upper right corner of the goal.

For Panaro, it was her second three-goal performance of the year and her first since she turned the trick in a 6-2 win over Felician on Sept. 4 at Sodexo Field.

Overall, Franklin Pierce held a 21-8 advantage in shots, including placing eight on goal. The Ravens also had a 4-0 edge in corner-kick opportunities.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Saturday afternoon when the Ravens close out the regular season home schedule by playing host to Saint Rose at 12 p.m. Prior to the game, Franklin Pierce will honor its senior class as part of its Senior Day activities.

For more information on Franklin Pierce women's soccer, please visit the team's page at http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.) To follow the program even further, please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on YouTube (www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceAthletics).