Ravens finish regular season unbeaten at home
BOXSCORE
RINDGE, N.H. (October 26, 2010) – The No.
1-nationally-ranked Franklin Pierce University men's soccer
team capped its 2010 regular season home schedule with a satisfying
1-0 win over 10th-ranked Southern New Hampshire on
Tuesday evening at Sodexo Field in Rindge. The win ran the
Ravens' record to 13-1-1 overall, 11-0-1 in Northeast-10 play
and 8-0-1 at home. SNHU dipped to 11-2-3 and 7-2-3 in league
action.
The Ravens had learned earlier in
the day that they were bumped to No. 1 in the nation, according to
the NSCAA Division II National Top-25 Poll. The honor came just
three days after Franklin Pierce captured the Northeast-10 regular
season championship following its 2-1 overtime win at Assumption on
Saturday.
However, Franklin Pierce did not
have time to celebrate the ranking as the Penmen proved to be a
tough out on this evening.
Both teams exchanged scoring
opportunities early before the Ravens finally broke through in the
13th minute with a goal from junior midfielder
Diego Tabares (Seekonk, Mass.).
Tabares got the contest's
lone goal after he collected a loose ball and streaked down the
right-hand side of the field past a SNHU defender. He worked his
way into the upper right corner of the box and fired a shot past
the out-stretched arms of Penmen goalkeeper Jon Mayo and into the
upper portion of the net for the 1-0 advantage. It was
Tabares' fourth goal of the season.
Southern New Hampshire brought the play to Franklin Pierce's
side of the field late in the first half and the Penmen looked to
have tied the game in the closing minutes of the period as an
undetermined player among a mass of bodies in front of the goal
headed in a shot. However, the referees waved off the goal as they
deemed a foul had occurred before the shot when a SNHU attacker ran
into Franklin Pierce goalkeeper Vinny Papageorgiou
(Wilmington, Mass.), thus denying him an opportunity to
make a play on the ball.
SNHU continued the strong offensive
play in the opening stages of the second half, but Franklin Pierce
settled down and started to dictate the pace of play in the closing
minutes. Graduate forward Shaun Taylor (Isle of White,
England) and junior midfielder Paul Latif
(Birmingham, England) each narrowly missed scoring
opportunities late as Franklin Pierce was able to work the ball
deep into the offensive zone.
Southern New Hampshire never
threatened after that and Papageorgiou earned the win in goal by
stopping all five shots he faced. He ran his record to 13-1-1 on
the season and produced his ninth shutout.
Franklin Pierce out-shot the Penmen
by a count of 10-9, including getting six shots on goal compared to
SNHU's five.
A large and vocal crowd was on hand
to watch the nation's top-ranked team pick up the win as the
contest featured a pair of events, including Pierce Pride Night and
Senior Night. Prior to the match the 2010 senior class of Taylor,
Jeff Hay (Dudley, Mass.), Shaliek Dawkins
(Kingston, Jamaica), Bobby Cooley (Northborough,
Mass.), Sjors Van Velzen (Heerlen,
Netherlands), Andre Tameirao (Hyannis,
Mass.) and Rob Harpin (Litchfield, Conn.)
were honored for their time and service to the program, which
helped produce some of the most memorable moments in program
history, including Dawkins helping to lead the Ravens to the 2007
NCAA Division II National Championship.
The student body that turned out
for Pierce Pride Night had the opportunity to take part in several
in-game activities, including doing a dance-off to Michael
Jackson's “Thriller” at halftime.
Franklin Pierce returns to action
Saturday when the Ravens travel to face Saint Michael's at 12
p.m. in Colchester, Vt. The match is the regular-season finale for
both teams. The Ravens will kick off their run for a Northeast-10
Championship next Tuesday when they play host to a quarterfinal
round match at Sodexo Field. Time and opponent are still to be
determined.
For more information on Franklin
Pierce men's soccer, please visit the team's page at
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).
