Program Record Four Ravens Collect NSCAA/adidas All-America Honors
Ettienne, Guimaraes lead All-America list with first team honors; Five Ravens named to NSCAA/adidas All-New England teams
RINDGE, N.H. (December 27, 2006) - A program-record four members of the Franklin Pierce men's soccer team have received NSCAA/adidas Division II All-America honors from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. The four also lead a list of five to earn All-New England Region honors.
Collecting All-America honors for Franklin Pierce were senior back Bisharra Ettienne (Rosedale, N.Y./Dominica State College) and sophomore midfielder Raphael Guimaraes (Marlborough, Mass./Ashland), who earned first team honors, while senior back Andre Elphic (St. Catherines, Jamaica/Springfield Gardens (NY)) and junior goalkeeper James Thorpe (East Longmeadow, Mass./Bridgton Academy) were named to the second team.
The Ravens four All-America selections are a program record, surpassing the previous best of three set in the program's final NAIA season of 1987. Ettienne and Guimaraes are also the first pair from Franklin Pierce to collect first team honors in the same year in program history.
Ettienne, who also earned first team All-New England honors for the second-straight years, collects All-America accolades for the first time after also being named the Northeast-10 Conference's Defensive Player of the Year this fall. He led a Franklin Pierce defensive unit which led NCAA Division II with a 0.44 team goals against average, smashing the program record by yielding just ten goals in 22 matches, including a mere three in 13 Northeast-10 matches. The Ravens also led Division II with 15 shutouts - just one shy of the program record.
Ettienne also stepped into the offensive flow and bagged five goals for ten points to lead all Franklin Pierce defenders. Three of his five markers were match-winners including the Ravens lone goal in a 1-0 victory over No. 11 Dominican College on August 27, which together with his match-winner two days before in a 2-1 season-opening victory over the University of Bridgeport earned him NE-10 Player of the Week honors. Ettienne, who was named to the All-NE-10 first team for the second-straight year, netted three goals for six points in 12 Conference matches and was second on the team with two goals for four points in seven matches against nationally-ranked opposition while also spearheading a defensive unit which allowed just three goals (0.40 GAA) in those contests.
Guimaraes, named to the All-New England first team for the first time, is also a first time All-America selection after being named to the All-Northeast-10 first team this fall. He led Franklin Pierce in scoring with 23 points (3rd NE-10) on a team-best ten goals (4th) and three assists, while sharing the team lead with three match-winners (5th NE-10). Guimaraes also led the Ravens in Conference play with seven goals (3rd) and two assists for 16 points (4th).
Guimaraes had tremendous month of September, leading Franklin Pierce to a 7-0-1 mark that month with five goals and three assists for 13 points. He also notched a goal and assist for three points in six matches played against ranked teams. Guimaraes set a career-best with five points, scoring a pair of goals and dishing an assist, in the Ravens win at Stonehill College on September 30. He was named to the All-Tournament team at the 2006 NCAA Tournament New England Regional.
Elphic, who earns All-New England honors for the second time with his first team selection after earning second team honors in 2004, rounds out Franklin Pierce first time All-America honorees with his selection to the second team. Elphic, along with Ettienne, led a Franklin Pierce defensive unit which led NCAA Division II with a 0.44 team goals against average, smashing the program record by yielding just ten goals in 22 matches, including a mere three in 13 Northeast-10 matches. The Ravens also led Division II with 15 shutouts - just one shy of the program record.
The captain, who played 91 of a possible 92 matches over his Franklin Pierce career, also provided a touch of offense with a goal and three assists (third highest total on the team) for five points. Elphic was also named to the All-Tournament team of the NCAA Tournament New England Regionals this fall and was an All-Tournament team selection at the 2005 NCAA Division II Final Four. He is a four-time All-Northeast-10 Conference pick.
Thorpe, now a three-time All-New England first team pick, earns All-America status for the second time after being named to the third team in 2005. Thorpe, just the fifth two-time All-American in program history, also became the first three-time Northeast-10 Goalkeeper of the Year in Conference history this fall. He shattered the program record with his NCAA Division II-leading 0.45 goals against average and Conference-leading .855 save percentage (6th nationally) and 12 shutouts, starting all 20 matches played for a total of 1,806:49.
Thorpe surpassed the program record for career shutouts of 28 set by Steve Quinones from 1987-90, carrying a total of 37 clean sheets into his senior year and is on pace to shatter both the program records for goals against average (0.68) and save percentage (.857). Thorpe yielded just two goals in 11 Northeast-10 matches (0.19 GAA) this fall, posting a 10-0-1 record, just two goals in eight matches away from Sodexho Field (0.25 GAA) and three goals in six matches played against ranked opposition (0.47 GAA). He also ran his career record in penalty shootouts to 5-1 with two more victories this fall, including a 3-2 decision over Southern New Hampshire in the semifinal round of the NE-10 Tournament in which he made three stops.
Joining the previous four with All-New England region honors was senior Peter Petropanagos (Mississauga, Ontario/York University), who earned such status for the first time with his second team selection. Petropanagos, who split time as a right fullback and holding midfielder, also played a key role in Division II's top defensive unit. He also dished one assist on the year, which came on a match-winning goal in the Ravens 3-0 victory over the College of Saint Rose on October 21.
Petropanagos, a two-time ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America and first team Academic All-District selection, has earned a 3.84 cumulative grade point average as a pre-med major at the College. A two-time All-Northeast-10 honoree, he is also a two-time Northeast-10 Conference All-Academic first team pick and NE-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll student, earning Gold Scholar status in 2005-06, and is a member of Chi Alpha Sigma National Student-Athlete Honor Society. Petropanagos also earned All-Tournament team honors at the NCAA New England Regional Tournament this season.
Franklin Pierce (17-2-3, 10-1-1 NE-10), ranked No. 9 in the final National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas Division II poll, captured the Northeast-10 Conference Championship double for the first time in program history, claiming its second-straight regular season crown and winning its first tournament title. The Ravens earned their fourth-straight NCAA Tournament berth (12th overall), falling in the New England Regional final.