Aya Noguchi earns assist on Carolina Savasta goal 

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. (September 12, 2012) -- The Franklin Pierce University women's soccer team suffered a tough setback on Wednesday night as Merrimack rallied for a pair of goals in the second half and overtime to pull off a 2-1 victory and snap the Ravens three match winning streak. Franklin Pierce dipped to 3-1 overall and 2-1 in the Northeast-10, while the Warriors improved to 4-1 and 2-0 in league play.

Merrimack struck home goals in the 83rd minute of regulation and the fifth minute of overtime to complete the come-from-behind triumph. The late goals came after Franklin Pierce had carried a large portion of the play and held a 1-0 advantage on the strength of a Caroline Savasta (Salem, Mass.) goal late in the opening 45 minutes. 

The equalizer, which came with a little more than seven minutes left in regulation, was scored by Danielle Dion, who took a throw in from Katie Bresciani, and sent a shot from 15 yards out which beat Ravens goalkeeper Casey Edward (Marshfield, Mass.) to the upper right corner of the net.

The Ravens came out firing in the opening minutes of the extra session as junior forward Talita Pereira (Sao Paulo, Brazil) sent a pair of shots towards the Merrimack goal. However, Warriors keeper Nicole Curtis stopped both shots which energized Merrimack's lineup.

Jenna Zechner made sure Curtis' crucial stops did not go to waste as she ultimately ended the match 4:43 into overtime by taking a nice crossing pass from Krista Fazio and firing a strike to the left side of the goal to lift Merrimack to the win.

Merrimack outshot the Ravens, 17-16, including owning an 11-7 advantage in the second half. Curtis made an impressive eight saves to earn the win, while Edward made three stops despite suffering the loss to fall to 2-1 on the year.

Savasta staked the Ravens to the 1-0 lead in the 42nd minute as she took a nice pass from graduate midfielder Aya Noguchi (Tokyo, Japan) and sent a touch to the right side of the net for the marker. It was Savasta's second goal of the season and it marked the fourth time in as many matches that she has logged at least a point. Noguchi was credited with an assist on the play for her third point of the season.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Saturday when the Ravens travel to New Haven, Conn. to face Southern Connecticut State at 6 p.m.

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).