Paul Latif factors in on both FPU goals with goal and assist;
Diego Tabares knees in impressive goal; Michael Busto comes up with
big block on potential tying goal late in match
BOXSCORE
RINDGE, N.H. (September 26, 2010) – The No.
25-nationally ranked Franklin Pierce University men's soccer
team scored twice in the early stages of Sunday's match and
hung on for a hard-fought 2-1 victory over 16th-ranked
Merrimack at Sodexo Field in Rindge. The Ravens improved to 6-1
overall and 4-0 in Northeast-10 competition, while handing
Merrimack its first loss of the season as the Warriors fell to 6-1
and 2-1 in league play.
Junior midfielder Paul
Latif (Newcastle, England) assisted on the game's
first goal and scored the second tally of the contest, which
ultimately proved to be the game-winner.
In the sixth minute, he sent a
crossing pass in front of the net, which junior midfielder
Diego Tabares (Seekonk, Mass.) kneed into the net
to make it 1-0 Franklin Pierce. Tabares made an outstanding play on
the ball as he shot past the Merrimack back and got himself into
position to attack the ball and knee it in for his second of the
season.
Both teams each exchanged one more
solid scoring chance in the first 45 minutes, but neither could
convert and the Ravens held the one-goal advantage at halftime.
Latif put Franklin Pierce up 2-0 in
the 51st minute as he scored off a free-kick attempt
from the left side of the goal. His tally was the third of the
season, moving him into a tie with Victor Goncalves (Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil) for the team lead in goals.
However, Merrimack picked up the
intensity over the remaining stages of the game and pulled to
within 2-1 in the 84th minute when Robbie Sabadoz scored
off a rebound attempt in front of FPU goalkeeper Vinny
Papageorgiou (Wilmington, Mass.).
Merrimack had two more solid scoring chances in the final two
minutes, but Latif and Michael Busto (Honolulu,
Hawai'i) each made tremendous blocks on shot
attempts by the Warriors, thus preventing the tying goal.
Latif has been a major force during
Franklin Pierce's recent four-match winning streak as he has
factored in the game-winning goal in each triumph. He scored the
winner in a 2-0 triumph at UMass-Lowell on Sept. 14, assisted on
Tyler Rosa's (Rehoboth, Mass.) goal in the
second overtime of last Sunday's 1-0 win at New Haven, and
scored the winner in Wednesday's 2-1 come-from-behind win
over defending NE-10 champion Le Moyne.
Papageorgiou made four saves to
earn the win and run his record to 6-1 on the season. Franklin
Pierce out-shot the Warriors by a count of 13-11.
Franklin Pierce has a mid-week bye,
but will return to action next Saturday when it plays host to
Southern Connecticut at 7 p.m. in Sodexo Field.
For more information on Franklin
Pierce men's soccer, please visit the team's page at
athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.) You can also visit www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports(,)
www.twitter.com/FPUathletics
and www.Facebook.com/FranklinPierceAthletics
to find out more about the program.
