Ravens look to advance to third-straight NE-10 semifinal with road victory

RINDGE, N.H. (October 28, 2002) - The Franklin Pierce men's soccer team will hit the road for Northeast-10 Conference Tournament play as the sixth-seeded Ravens, also ranked sixth in the New England region, travel to North Andover, Mass., for quarterfinal round action against third-seeded Merrimack College, ranked 22nd in this week's National Soccer Coaches Association (NSCAA)/adidas Division II poll, on Tuesday, October 29, at 2 p.m.

Franklin Pierce (9-4-4, 6-3-4 NE-10) faces the tough task of needing to win a postseason match on the road for the second-straight year in order to advance to the Northeast-10 semifinals for the third-straight season. Last fall, the Ravens posted a 2-0 win at second-seeded and No. 23-ranked Southern New Hampshire University to advance to the semifinals before they were up-ended by eventual Tournament Champion Saint Anselm College.

This year's Ravens squad have posted a 6-1-4 record away from Crystal Field this fall with three of their four losses coming at home. Franklin Pierce has matched a program record for ties in a season, set in 1981, which includes a program-record three scoreless draws.

One of those draws came in the regular season match-up between Franklin Pierce and Merrimack on October 17 at Keene State College's Owls Stadium. Franklin Pierce junior goalkeeper Domenico Roma (Windsor, Ontario/Ste. Annes) registered five saves to preserve his fourth shutout of the season, while Merrimack sophomore Keith Boudreau posted two stops in claiming his fifth shutout of the season. The Warriors registered a 12-11 shots advantage for the match, but the Ravens had the higher quality chances down the stretch, the best coming on a shot by sophomore midfielder Kyle Miller (Newburgh, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy) that missed the left post by inches with 45-seconds remaining in regulation.

Tomorrow will mark the 16th meeting all-time between the two programs, the first in postseason play. Franklin Pierce holds an 11-2-2 advantage in the series with the last Merrimack victory coming with a 3-1 decision in North Andover during the 1998 season.

Franklin Pierce enters tomorrow's match having posted a 6-1-2 record down the stretch with the lone loss coming at No. 1-ranked Southern Connecticut State University last Wednesday night. Junior striker Bjorgolfor Takefusa (Reykjavik, Iceland) has taken over the team lead in scoring after a slow start to the season with 13 points on a team-high 13 goals (four game winners) and five assists. He ranks fourth in the Conference in points and third in goals per match.

Senior Tate Travis (Detroit, Mich./UC Santa Barbara) led the Ravens early in the season and has totaled 17 points with seven goals and three assists. Grad student Chris Schwarz (Babenhausen, Germany) has added 13 points (4 gls, 5 asts), while freshman Evan Luster (Newington, Conn./Newington) has chipped in ten points (3 gls, 4 asts).

Roma ranks fifth in the Northeast-10 with a 1.14 goals against average to go along with a .800 save percentage and four shutouts this season. He has been instrumental in the Ravens late season surge, posting a 0.94 GAA and .866 save percentage over their last nine matches.

Roma is fronted by a solid back line that includes grad student Wolfgang Koschnitzki (Eschborn, Germany), juniors Sean McCabe (Derry City, Northern Ireland) and Asgrimur Sigurdsson (Reykjavik, Iceland) and sophomore Michael Black (Guilford, Conn./Guilford).

Merrimack (12-4-2, 9-3-1 NE-10) enters the postseason having posted just two wins over their past six matches after opening the season with a 10-1-1 clip (7-0 in Conference play), including a school-record ten-match winning streak. The Warriors are coming off a hard fought 1-0 loss at No. 1-ranked Southern Connecticut on Saturday.

Junior Sean Malone led the Warriors in scoring for a third straight season, tallying six goals and five assists for 17 points. It was the defense however that helped the Warriors to several victories. Merrimack held its opponents to two goals or less in 16 of the team's 18 games this season and Boudreau finished with six shutouts and a 0.95 goals against average, which ranks fourth in the Conference.

The winner of tomorrow's match will advance to Friday's semifinal round and will face the winner of tomorrow's quarterfinal between seventh-seeded Le Moyne College and second-seeded Southern New Hampshire University. The Ravens could host Friday's match with a win and a Le Moyne upset. The Northeast-10 Conference Championship will be played at the home of the highest remaining seed on Sunday at 1 p.m.

2002 Northeast-10 Conference Men's Soccer Championship

QUARTERFINALS:
Tuesday, October 29
#7 Le Moyne (10-7, 7-6 NE-10) at #2 Southern New Hampshire (13-2-2, 11-1-1 NE-10), 2 p.m.
#6 Franklin Pierce (9-4-4, 6-3-4 NE-10) at #3 Merrimack (12-4-2, 9-3-1 NE-10), 2 p.m.
#5 UMass Lowell (11-4-2, 8-3-2 NE-10) at #4 Saint Anselm (11-4-1, 9-4 NE-10), 2 p.m.
#8 Bryant (8-8, 7-6 NE-10) at #1 Southern Connecticut State (14-0-2, 11-0-2 NE-10), 7 p.m.

SEMIFINALS:
Friday, November 1 (at highest remaining seeds)
Le Moyne/Southern N.H. winner vs. Franklin Pierce/Merrimack winner, 2 p.m.
UMass Lowell/Saint Anselm winner vs. Bryant/Southern Connecticut winner, 2 p.m.

CHAMPIONSHIP
Sunday, November 3 (at highest remaining seed)
Semifinal winners, 1 p.m.