Joyce sets career NCAA Tournament record, matches two other scoring marks

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (December 4, 2005) - Top-ranked Fort Lewis (Colo.) College survived a scare from No. 15 Franklin Pierce to clinch its first NCAA Division II National Championship in program history with a 3-1 victory at Midwestern State University this afternoon.

Fort Lewis (22-0-1) junior forward John Cunliffe (Edgeworth, England) earned Most Outstanding Offensive Player honors for the Final Four as he dished two assists, setting up the match-winning goal for the Skyhawks, and finished the two matches with three goals and three assists. Senior back Bryan Eisenbraun (Lakewood, Colo./Green Mountain) earned Most Outstanding Offensive Player honors with a strong defensive effort this afternoon.            

"There was a lot of buzz around that we would have an easy time today because of our offensive production on Friday and disregarded Franklin Pierce because they struggled through their semifinal," said Fort Lewis head coach Jeremy Gunn. "Franklin Pierce had us on our heels for much of the second half, but we were able to recover enough to regain the lead and the last ten minutes were the best we played all day."

Junior Ben Gantenbein (Golden, Colo./Arvada West) netted the winning goal with just 8:39 remaining in regulation as he pounced on a loose rebound after Cunliffe's initial shot was stopped by Franklin Pierce sophomore goalkeeper James Thorpe (East Longmeadow, Mass./Bridgton Academy).

"(Cunliffe) came in one-on-one with me and tried to toe poke it," said Thorpe. "I was able to make the save, but it got away from me and the next thing I saw was (Gantenbein) kick it into the open net."

Soon after, Franklin Pierce was reduced to ten men when sophomore back Michel Vitulano (Montreal, Quebec/College de Maissoneuve) was issued a second yellow card in the 82^nd minute. The Skyhawks added an "empty net" goal with just three seconds left with the Ravens pushing their remaining ten men forward. The goal was scored by senior Cole Sweetser (North Richland Hills, Texas/Richland) off a feed from Cunliffe.   

Franklin Pierce All-America forward Christopher Joyce (Jarrow, England) scored a goal just 2:24 into the second half that knotted the match after Fort Lewis carried a 1-0 lead into halftime. Joyce blasted in a free kick from the top of the arc into the left side of the net for his Division II leading 29^th goal of the season, matching the program's single-season record.

"I saw the keeper was a little far to his left of the wall," said Joyce. "I knew he would not be able to cover the left post and I just put my head down and struck it."

The marker was also Joyce's ninth career goal in NCAA Tournament play, setting a new Division II record. The two points gave him an NCAA Division II Tournament record-matching 20 for his two-year career at Franklin Pierce. He was named to the All-Tournament team along with Thorpe and junior back Andre Elphic (St. Catherines, Jamaica), who was outstanding in central defense in the Ravens final two matches.

"We came in definitely to win," said Joyce. "We were up against a great opponent and it's great to know we played well, but at the end of the day we're still going away with the silver trophy."

Franklin Pierce continued to pressure the Skyhawks and freshman Raphael Guimaraes (Marlboro, Mass./Ashland) broke in on the left side of the 18 in the 55^th minute, but his shot from the left channel flashed just wide of the left post.  

Fort Lewis opened the scoring in the 27^th minute off a corner kick from the left side. Sweetser curled in the kick and Thorpe got a hand on sophomore Kieran Hall's (Blackburn, England) attempted header at the far post, but junior Cliff Wilmes (Morrison, Colo./Bear Creek) crashed the net and buried a header into the left side of the goal at 26:45.

Franklin Pierce had a good chance to equalize before the half, but Joyce opted for a low-angle chance at the right post instead of squaring a ball back toGuimaraes, who appeared to be open at the middle of the 18 for a play similar to what produced the winning goal in Friday's national semifinal over SIU-Edwardsville.

Thorpe finished with six saves for Franklin Pierce, while Fort Lewis senior Nick Clark (Durango, Colo./Durango) made one save to preserve the victory.

Franklin Pierce closes out the season with a 16-6-5 record overall, including a 10-1-2 clip in Northeast-10 Conference play which was good enough to claim the Ravens first Conference title of any kind since 1995. The Ravens were participating in just their second Final Four, reaching the championship match for the first time in program history.

"After Friday and with the excitement around Fort Lewis' semifinal result everyone had kind of written us off," said Franklin Pierce head coach Marco Koolman. "The boys played excellent today. (Making it to our first final) is certainly something to be proud of for the team and the College."

MATCH STATISTICS