#4 Franklin Pierce Blanks Saint Rose, 3-0
Ravens clinch second-straight NE-10 regular season crown, host Saint Anselm Tuesday
RINDGE, N.H. (October 21, 2006) - Franklin Pierce, ranked No. 4 in this week's National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas Division II poll, clinched its second-straight Northeast-10 Conference regular season championship with a 3-0 victory over the College of Saint Rose in men's soccer action at Sodexho Field tonight.
Franklin Pierce (15-1-1, 11-1-1 NE-10), the top-seed for the Northeast-10 Tournament, will host eighth-seeded Saint Anselm College in a quarterfinal round match on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Hawks clinched the last playoff spot with a commanding 6-2 victory over Le Moyne College this afternoon and American International College's 3-1 setback at Bryant University tonight. Saint Rose sees its season come to a close at 2-15 overall, 1-12 in the NE-10.
Junior All-America goalkeeper James Thorpe (East Longmeadow, Mass./Bridgton Academy) made three first half saves, which at the time kept the match scoreless, to preserve his NE-10-leading ninth shutout of the season (34th career).
Saint Rose placed all three of its first half shots on target, while all five Franklin Pierce shots were off the mark in the opening 45-minutes. The Ravens clinched the victory with three goals in a ten-minute span midway through the second half.
Junior Mike Lima (Ludlow, Mass./Ludlow) opened the scoring with a drive into the right side of the net off a through ball from senior Peter Petropanagos (Mississauga, Ontario/York University) at 63:57.
The Ravens double their advantage just 1:22 later, when junior Brendan McMahon (Chapelhall, Scotland) touched a free kick over to freshman Matthijs Eppinga (Drachten, The Netherlands), who blasted a shot from 24-yards out in the 66th minute. Sophomore Raphael Guimaraes (Marlborough, Mass./Ashland) rounded out the scoring with an unassisted strike in the 74th minute.
Saint Rose junior goalkeeper Peter Cappiello (Lakeland, N.Y./Lakeland) made five second-half saves. Franklin Pierce finished with a 16-5 advantage in shots (11-2 second half).