Daniel Donaldson scores a pair of goals to help lead the Ravens
to victory and a championship
WALTHAM, Mass. (October 25, 2011) -- The No. 2
nationally ranked Franklin Pierce University men's soccer team
clinched the 2011 Northeast-10 Conference regular season
championship on Tuesday with a satisfying 4-2 win over Bentley in
Waltham, Mass. The Ravens improved to 15-0-1 overall and 11-0-1 in
the NE-10, while Bentley dipped to 9-5-2 and 7-4-1 in league
play.
Franklin Pierce claimed the NE-10 regular season title for the
second-straight season. The Ravens won the championship last season
on the way to also claiming the NE-10 tournament championship. By
winning the regular season championship, Franklin Pierce earned the
No. 1 seed and home field advantage throughout the upcoming
conference tournament, which begins next Tuesday with the
quarterfinals.
Franklin Pierce's triumph over Bentley on Tuesday also marked
the second-consecutive year the Ravens downed the Falcons to claim
one of the NE-10 titles. The Ravens defeated Bentley, 1-0, back in
early November of last season in the conference tournament
championship game at Sodexo Field. The win helped propel Franklin
Pierce to the top seed in Sub-Region 1 of the NCAA Division II
Tournament.
With the championship in the bag, Franklin Pierce will now close
out the regular season on Saturday when the Ravens travel to
Syracuse, N.Y. to face Le Moyne at 1 p.m. A win would ensure
Franklin Pierce a regular season that features zero losses.
Tuesday's triumph over Bentley did not come without an early
struggle, as the Falcons went on top, 1-0, in the 19th minute
following a goal from Weston Zeiner.
Franklin Pierce, however, did not fold and quickly countered
just four minutes later as senior midfielder Diego Tabares
(Seekonk, Mass.) dribbled down the left wing and chipped a
shot over the goalkeeper to knot the score at 1-1. It was Tabares'
team-leading eighth tally of the season.
It was graduate back Daniel Donaldson's
(Moechengladbach, Germany) turn to get in on the scoring
act and he gladly jumped at the chance with two goals bridging the
first and second halves. Donaldson's first tally came in the 31st
minute when he headed in a crossing pass off a corner-kick attempt
from freshman Tom Wampler (Attleboro, Mass.).
Donaldson logged his second goal of the season, while Wampler
notched an assist on the play.
Donaldson tallied his second goal of the game and his third goal
of the season in the 74th minute when he headed in another crossing
pass off a corner-kick attempt, this time coming from sophomore
Gareth Dudney (North Andover, Mass.), who was
credited with an assist on the play.
The Ravens went up 4-1 just three minutes later when
Greg Giguere (East Bridgewater, Mass.) took a
through pass from Amory Houghton (Cape Elizabeth,
Maine), dribbled down the field and fired a strike past
the goalie. It was Giguere's third goal of the season, while
Houghton also earned a point on the play as he garnered an
assist.
Bentley did score moments later to pull within two goals, but
the Falcons would not get any closer as Franklin Pierce nailed down
the win and the regular season title.
Franklin Pierce senior Vinny Papageorgiou (Wilmington, Mass.),
the reigning NE-10 Goalkeeper of the Week, made three saves to earn
the win and run his record to 15-0-1 on the season.
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).