RINDGE, N.H. (October 6, 2012) -- Graduate midfielder Aya Noguchi (Tokyo, Japan) slammed home a penalty kick attempt with just :06 left to break a 2-all tie and lift the Franklin Pierce University women's soccer team to a thrilling 3-2 win over New Haven on Saturday at Sodexo Field in Rindge. The Ravens won for the third time in their last four matches to improve to 6-4-1 overall and 5-4-1 in the Northeast-10. UNH dipped to 7-4-1 and 4-4-1 in league play.
Noguchi earned the penalty kick opportunity in the waning seconds of the match after New Haven was whistled for a hand ball in the box. After taking a few moments to set up the ball and collect her thoughts, Noguchi struck home a shot to the lower right corner of the net as the New Haven goalkeeper, Natasha Purchla, dove the other way thinking the Ravens striker would go that side.
Noguchi's late goal put an end to the idea of heading to overtime as New Haven would have went into the extra session with all the momentum after scoring in the 63rd and 79th minutes to come from behind and knot the score at 2-2.
The two goals over that 16-minute span came about from the Chargers picking up their level of play in the offensive zone in the second half. Amanda Hathaway scored in the 63rd minute on a header off a rebound attempt, while Lucy Francisco chipped in another rebound attempt in the 79th minute. The Chargers outshot the Ravens, 22-21, for the match, including a 12-7 advantage in the second half.
Despite allowing those two goals, Franklin Pierce senior keeper Casey Edward (Marshfield, Mass.) made a career-high 11 saves and was an important factor in the Ravens pulling out the victory. She made several stops on UNH point-blank shots right in front of the net and improved to 5-2-1 with the win.
Franklin Pierce scored twice in the first half, with both goals coming off the foot of junior forward Talita Pereira (Sao Paulo, Brazil).
Pereira's first goal came in the ninth minute when Noguchi lobbed a pass into the box, which the striker was able to collect, dribble once and chip a shot to the upper right corner of the net for the 1-0 advantage. Noguchi picked up the assist on the play to round out her three-point afternoon.
Pereira struck again in the 24th minute when freshman forward Hannah Weagle (Ipswich, Mass.) skipped a heal pass over to her, which the junior was able to collect and blast a shot, which deflected off Purchla's finger tips into the upper right corner of the goal for the 2-0 lead. Weagle picked up an assist to run her point total to 22 on the season. For Pereira, the two tallies were her fourth and fifth of the season.
Noguchi's late tally helped the Ravens avoid having to play any extra minutes, which will come in handy tomorrow as Franklin Pierce turns right around and will travel to play Queens (N.Y.) at 2:30 p.m. It's the first of three-straight road contests for the Ravens, who won't return to Rindge until Oct. 16.
For more information on Franklin Pierce women'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/FranklinPierceRavens). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce women's soccer apparel can do so on the athletic department's brand new online store at athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store(.)
