DII Player of the Year taken by FC Dallas in first round (6th overall)

RINDGE, N.H. (January 26, 2006) - It may have been a week later than hoped for, but professional soccer has called on Franklin Pierce's Christopher Joyce (Jarrow, England). FC Dallas selected the NSCAA/adidas Division II Player of the Year with its first pick of the first round (6^th overall) of Major League Soccer's Supplemental Draft this afternoon.

Joyce, the first two-time first team All-American in Franklin Pierce men's soccer history, was the first player in program history to receive an invitation to the MLS Combine two weekends ago at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., just outside Los Angeles. Failing to score in the three games, perhaps cost him a chance to be taken in last week's MLS SuperDraft in Philadelphia, but that is all behind him now. 

"I think it's a good opportunity for (Chris) to prove that he is capable of playing at the MLS level," said Franklin Pierce Head Coach Marco Koolman. "Once he has been in training camp for some time and has more game rhythm, his goal scoring will pick up, which is what he is capable of doing."

Joyce is the third player in program history to be selected by an MLS club, the first taken in the League's supplemental draft. Former two-time All-American Bojan Vuckovic was selected in the third round of the inaugural MLS Draft in 1996 by the New England Revolution, while All-American Felix Brillant was taken by the Revolution in the fourth round of the 2004 SuperDraft.

"The quality of the program only gets better by having these types of players at Franklin Pierce," said Koolman. "In order to compete with the best you have to recruit the best and then continue to develop their overall game. We hope to bring in more players of the level that will make not only the program better, but players with realistic aspirations to get to the next level after college."

Joyce, the Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Year, also earned first team All-New England and first team All-Northeast-10 honors for two-straight years. He finished his final season at the College with an NCAA Division II best 67 points and 29 goals to go with an NE-10-leading nine assists. In addition to his goal total leading the nation, Joyce's 29 markers matched the program's single-season record set by Vuckovic in 1992. He also set a school-record with a Conference-leading eight match-winning goals, while his 67 points finished just four shy of Vuckovic's school record. 

Joyce registered eight multi-goal matches and five matches with five or more points. He also set a program record with two goals in a 14-second span, the third fastest consecutive goals in NCAA Division II history by one player, en route to a three goal and two assist outing against Saint Michael's College on October 15.

Joyce finished his two-year career at the College ranked fourth in program history with 51 goals, sixth with 119 points and 15^th with 17 assists in 50 career matches. He led the NE-10 in scoring and goals both years at the College and set an NCAA Division II Tournament record with nine career goals and finished with a Division II record-matching 20 career points in eight career NCAA Tournament matches played. Joyce was named the Most Outstanding Offensive Player in the NCAA Tournament New England Regional in 2004 and 2005 and was also selected to the All-Tournament team at the NCAA Division II Final Four this year.

Franklin Pierce (16-6-5, 10-1-2 NE-10) advanced to the National Championship match for the first time in program history before dropping a 3-1 decision to No. 1-ranked Fort Lewis (Colo.) College. The Ravens, ranked No. 2 in the final NSCAA/adidas Division II poll, reached the NCAA Division II Final Four for the second time in program history after claiming the Northeast-10 Conference regular season championship - their first Conference title since 1995.