Sixth-seeded Ravens face third-seeded Le Moyne in opening round of NCAA Tournament on Friday at Dowling College's Golden Lions Field

RINDGE, N.H. (November 12, 2008) - Defending National Champions Franklin Pierce University is set to open its title defense with an NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Tournament opening round match against Le Moyne College at Golden Lions Field on the campus of Dowling College in Brookhaven, N.Y., on Friday at 1 p.m.

Franklin Pierce (12-7-2, 9-3-1 NE-10) is the No. 6-seed in the East Regional and is making its 14^th NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. No. 3-seed Le Moyne College (13-5-3, 9-3-1 NE-10) is making its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance. Host Dowling (16-3-0, 8-0-0 ECC) is seeded second awaits the winner of the Franklin Pierce/Le Moyne match for an East Regional semifinal on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Admission for this weekend's matches will be $5.00 for adults, $3.00 for students and senior citizens and $2.00 for children, with those under the age of two admitted free. Dowling will be providing a free video webcast of both matches, as well we live stats. Those will be available through both the Franklin Pierce athletics website (athletics.franklinpierce.edu) as well as Dowling's athletics site (www.dowlingathletics.com).

The winner of this weekend's matches on Long Island will advance to next weekend's East Regional championship for the right to advance to the NCAA Division II Final Four in Tampa, Fla. The other East sub-regional features fifth-seeded Molloy College (12-5-2, 5-2-1 ECC), fourth-seeded University of Massachusetts Lowell (11-3-4, 9-1-3 NE-10) and top-seeded and host Southern New Hampshire University (15-2-4, 9-1-3 NE-10) in Manchester, N.H., on Friday and Sunday.

Franklin Pierce, making its 14^th NCAA Tournament appearance in program history, has earned berths now in six-straight seasons. The Ravens captured their first National Championship last fall, posting a 1-0 victory over Lincoln Memorial University in the final in Orange Beach, Ala. Franklin Pierce has won three of the last four regional championships and reached the Final Four twice in the last four years (three times overall).

Franklin Pierce enters the NCAA Tournament winners of four of its last six (4-1-1) after its 0-0 double-overtime draw with Southern New Hampshire in the semifinal round of the Northeast-10 Tournament. The Ravens are ranked fourth in the NE-10 with a 1.06 team goals against average and fifth in scoring with 1.67 goals per match. 

All-American Bisharra Ettienne (Point Michel, Dominica) leads Franklin Pierce's defensive unit, which is second in the NE-10 with eight shutouts this season. Freshman goalkeeper Vinny Papageorgiou (Wilmington, Mass./Wilmington) has posted a 10-4-2 record in goal this season for the Ravens and posted a 0.79 goals against average (2^nd NE-10) and .740 save percentage (10^th) with seven shutouts (2^nd) in 1,474:56 over 16 starts. Since surrendering a combined eight goals in back-to-back matches during a Florida trip in early September, the Ravens have yielded just ten goals in their last 15 (0.67 goals/match).

Freshman Viktor Gonçalves (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), the Northeast-10 Freshman of the Year, leads the NE-10 with 29 points and 12 goals to go with five assists (9^th NE-10). Senior Frantz Francois (Saint-Marc, Haiti/Palm Beach Lakes (Fla.)) has added five goals (three match-winners) and four assists for 14 points. He has netted three goals over the Ravens last five matches, including a goal and assist in their 2-1 overtime win over Southern Connecticut State in the NE-10 quarterfinals. Junior Kensaku Tsuji (Tokushima, Japan) leads the team with six assists (3^rd) to go with three goals for 12 points.

Le Moyne, who has reached the NCAA Tournament for the second-straight year and third time in four years, has just one win over its last four matches (1-2-1) after dropping a 1-0 decision to Southern New Hampshire in the NE-10 Championship on Saturday. Prior to that, the Dolphins had won eight of nine. Le Moyne ranks second in the NE-10 with a 0.91 team goals against average and is fourth in scoring with 1.86 goals per match.

Sophomore back Sean Lawlor (Kirkham, Preston) and junior goalkeeper Steve White (Cortland, N.Y./Cortland) anchor the Le Moyne defense. White has played every second in goal this season for the Dolphins and posted a 0.91 goals against average (3^rd NE-10) and .750 save percentage (9^th) with seven shutouts (2^nd).

Senior Matthew Pecheone (New Hartford, N.Y./New Hartford) leads Le Moyne in scoring with 11 goals (2^nd NE-10) and five assists (9^th) for 27 points (2^nd). Sophomore Angelo Reina (Frankfurt, N.Y./Utica Notre Dame) has added eight goals (9^th) and two assists for 18 points, while freshman Jesse Carr (Skaneateles, N.Y./Skaneateles) has dished a Conference-best seven assists to go with three goals for 13 points.

Friday will mark the 17^th meeting all-time between these two programs, the fourth in postseason play and third in the NCAA Tournament. Franklin Pierce holds a 12-3-1 advantage in the all-time series between the two, including a 2-1 mark in postseason play and 2-0 clip in the NCAA Tournament.

Friday will mark the third time Franklin Pierce and Le Moyne have opened the NCAA Tournament against one another, but the first on a neutral field. The Ravens posted a pair of 5-0 victories over the Dolphins in opening round matches in 2005 and 2007 - both of which were played at Sodexo Field in Rindge.

Franklin Pierce posted a 2-1 overtime victory in the regular season meeting between the two teams back on September 9 in Rindge. Junior Sean Ahern (Somers, Conn./Somers) netted the match-winner 5:31 into overtime. Le Moyne forced extra time with a goal from Pecheone in the 82^nd minute after the Ravens opened the scoring on a goal from freshman Tom Reilly (Wallasey, England) in the 25^th minute.    

2008 NCAA Division II
Men's Soccer East Regional

Friday, November 14
First Round
Dowling College (Brookhaven, N.Y.)
#6 Franklin Pierce (12-7-2, 9-3-1 NE-10) vs. Le Moyne (13-5-3, 9-3-1 NE-10), 1 p.m.

Southern New Hampshire University (Manchester, N.H.)
#5 Molloy (12-5-2, 5-2-1 ECC) vs. #4 UMass Lowell (11-3-4, 9-1-3 NE-10), 3 p.m.

Sunday, November 16
Regional Semifinals
DowlingCollege (Brookhaven, N.Y.)
Franklin Pierce/Le Moyne winner at #2 Dowling (16-3-0, 8-0-0 ECC), 1 p.m.

Southern New Hampshire University (Manchester, N.H.)
Molloy/UMass Lowell winner at #1 Southern New Hampshire (15-2-4, 9-1-3 NE-10), 1 p.m.

The regional championship will be played the weekend of November 22-23 at the site of the highest remaining seed. The East Region champion advances to the Final Four in Tampa, Fla., hosted by the University of Tampa.