Luster's 89th minute tally lifts Ravens to second-straight road win

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (September 28, 2002) - Freshman forwardEvan Luster (Newington, Conn./Newington) netted the game winning goal with just 2:28 remaining in regulation to lift Franklin Pierce, ranked eighth in the New England region, to a key 2-1 victory over Le Moyne College, ranked fifth in the region, in Northeast-10 Conference men's soccer action this afternoon.

Luster's tally, the second of his career, came in the 88th minute of play, when he collected a through ball from senior Tate Travis (Detroit, Mich./UC Santa Barbara), slithered through the Le Moyne defense and beat goalkeeper Tim Mann.

Travis struck earlier in the second half for his team-leading seventh marker of the season when he re-directed a Chris Schwarz (Babenhausen, Germany) corner kick at the 59:45-mark to knot the match at one.

Le Moyne had taken the lead midway through the first half when senior Justin Pike blasted a loose rebound past Franklin Pierce junior goalkeeper Domenico Roma (Windsor, Ontario/Ste. Annes) in the 22nd minute. Freshman Mariel Lako was credited with an assist.

The Dolphins nearly sent the match into overtime, but senior Bryan Degnan's header caromed off the crossbar before it was cleared harmlessly away by the Ravens defense.

Roma posted a career-high seven saves in the match for Franklin Pierce to preserve the victory, while Mann finished with five stops for Le Moyne.

Franklin Pierce (5-3-2, 2-2-2 NE-10) closes out its season-long three-match road trip next Saturday, October 5, at UMass Lowell at 1 p.m. Le Moyne (6-3, 3-3 NE-10) travels to Mercyhurst College for a non-conference match on Tuesday at 4 p.m.

Franklin Pierce 2, Le Moyne 1  

Scoring Summary: LC: Justin Pike (Mariel Lako), 21:05; FP: Tate Travis (Chris Schwarz), 59:45; FP: Evan Luster (Travis), 87:32.
Goalkeepers: FP: Domenico Roma (90:00) seven saves; LC: Tim Mann (90:00), five saves.
Shots: FP: 11, LC: 17