Ribeiro, Tajiou lead high-powered Penmen offense

MANCHESTER, N.H. (November 1, 2002) - After a scoreless first half, second-seeded Southern New Hampshire University, ranked 13th in this week' National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas Division II poll, netted three second half goals to defeat upset-minded and sixth-seeded Franklin Pierce in semifinal round action of the Northeast-10 Conference men's soccer tournament in front of 927 at Penmen Field tonight.

Southern New Hampshire (15-2-2) advances to its second Northeast-10 Championship match over the last three years and will host fifth-seeded UMass Lowell (13-4-2) on Sunday in search of its second Conference title at 1 p.m. The River Hawks advanced to the title game with a 1-0 upset of top-seeded and No. 1-ranked Southern Connecticut State University in overtime in New Haven, Conn., this afternoon.

Franklin Pierce falls to 0-3 in NE-10 semifinal matches since joining the Conference three years ago.

Tonight, Southern New Hampshire peppered the Franklin Pierce (10-5-4) goal with 24 shots, while the Ravens managed just nine - most of which came late in the match.

"They were in the game tonight and we weren't," commented Franklin Pierce Head Coach Marco Koolman. "We just didn't connect with the people up front, especially in the first half, when we had chances to do so."

Junior forward Cassio Ribeiro, who totaled a match-high 11 shots on the night, opened the scoring just 9:45 into the second half on a play set up by grad student Mounir Tajiou. Tajiou broke in on goal and rifled a point-blank shot that was saved by Franklin Pierce junior goalkeeper Domenico Roma (Windsor, Conn./Ste. Annes), but the Ravens defense failed to clear the loose ball and Ribiero one-timed the rebound into an open net from the top of the 18-yard box.

The Penmen got a necessary insurance marker when junior Clint Borrill headed in a Mike Savastra corner kick at the near post at the 74:54-mark.

The Ravens cut the lead in half just 1:05 later when sophomore Kyle Miller (Newburgh, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy) received a pass from junior Felix Brillant (Montreal, Quebec/College Francais) and sent a low shot that was deflected straight into the air by Borrill before dropping to the ground an rolling across the goal line.

"That really made us think a little bit and really caused us to check our intestinal fortitude," said SNHU head coach Tom Poitras. "But we responded well. They are not a six-seed by any measure. I feel the four teams that were left entering today were the best four."

The Penmen ended all chances of a comeback less than two minutes later when Tajiou headed in a volley from Ribeiro at the far post in the 78th minute.

"Ribeiro caused a lot of problems and we didn't deal good enough with it," said Koolman.

"Cassio is a dangerous player," said Poitras. "He doesn't have necessarily the goals that Mounir has, but he causes problems."

Roma collected a career-high 12 saves, many from point-blank range to keep Franklin Pierce in the match.

"Domenico has been playing well for us," said Koolman. "It is a positive thing to have a goalkeeper that steps up and makes saves."

Freshman Adam Spinelli preserved the win with three saves for the Penmen, who gets revenge for last season when the seventh-seeded Ravens ended their season with a 2-0 win here at Penmen Field in the 2001 NE-10 Quarterfinals.

#2 Southern New Hampshire 3, #6 Franklin Pierce 1 

Scoring Summary: SNHU: Cassio Ribeiro (Mounir Tajiou), 54:45; SNHU: Clint Borrill (Mike Savastra), 74:54; FP: Kyle Miller (Felix Brillant), 75:59; SNHU: Tajiou (Ribeiro), 77:41. Goalkeepers: FP: Domenico Roma (90:00), 12 saves; SNHU: Adam Spinelli (90:00), three saves.
Shots: FP: 9, SNHU: 24.