Ravens open quest for second NE-10 Tournament crown against longtime postseason rivals

RINDGE, N.H. (October 30, 2008) - Defending NCAA Division II National Champion Franklin Pierce University, ranked sixth in this week's National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas Division II East Regional poll, is seeded third in the 2008 Northeast-10 Conference men's soccer championships.

Franklin Pierce (11-7-1, 9-3-1 NE-10) will host sixth-seeded Southern Connecticut State University (6-6-5, 5-3-5 NE-10) in a quarterfinal round match on Sunday at Sodexo Field at 4 p.m. The Ravens are seeking their second NE-10 Tournament championship (winning its first in 2006) after seeing their string of three-straight regular season titles snapped with a 3-2 setback in their regular season finale at American International College last night.

Admission for Sunday's match will be $6.00 for adults and $3.00 for students, children and senior citizens. Those planning on attending this match as well as the women's NE-10 Tournament Quarterfinal (1 p.m.) will be required to purchase a second ticket between games.

The match will also be broadcast live on WFPC-LP 105.3 FM and also streamed over the internet at athletics.franklinpierce.edu.

Franklin Pierce enters Sunday's match having won four of its last six contests after Wednesday's 3-2 setback at American International. The Ravens are ranked fifth in the NE-10 in scoring with 1.74 goals per match and are ranked sixth with a 1.14 team goals against average. Since surrendering a combined eight goals in back-to-back matches during a Florida trip in early September, the Ravens have yielded just nine goals in their last 13 (0.69 goals/match).

Freshman Viktor Gonçalves (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) leads the Northeast-10 in scoring with 27 points and 11 goals to go with five assists (5^th NE-10) in 19 matches played this season. His four match-winning goals also lead the NE-10. Junior Kensaku Tsuji (Tokushima, Japan) has added three goals and a team-high six assists (2^nd) for 12 points, while senior Frantz Francois (Saint-Marc, Haiti/Palm Beach Lakes (Fla.)) has chipped in four goals and three assists for 11 points.

Freshman goalkeeper Vinny Papageorgiou (Wilmington, Mass./Wilmington) has started the Ravens last 14 matches in goal for Franklin Pierce and posted a 0.85 goals against average (2^nd NE-10) and .727 save percentage with six shutouts (4^th) in 1,266:23.

Southern Connecticut State, the defending Northeast-10 Tournament champions, enters the postseason with two wins in its last seven matches (2-2-3) after rounding out the season with a 2-1 double-overtime victory over Saint Anselm College on Saturday. The Owls are ranked fourth in the NE-10 with a 1.04 team goals against average and tenth in scoring with 1.35 goals per match. 

Freshman Andrew Esposito (East Haven Conn./East Haven) has played all 1,650 minutes in goal for Southern Connecticut in his first collegiate season. He has posted a 1.04 GAA (5^th NE-10) and .784 save percentage (4^th) with seven shutouts (2^nd).

Sophomore Paul Templeton (Saltcoats, Scotland) leads the Owls with 17 points and seven goals to go with three assists in 17 starts this season. Senior All-American Ancil Farrier (Los Bajos, Trinidad) has added three goals and two assists for eight points, while classmate Djordje Jankovic (Sabac, Serbia) has contributed a goal and a team-high five assists (5^th NE-10) for seven points.

Sunday will mark the 32^nd meeting all-time between these two programs, the tenth in postseason play - including two previous NE-10 Tournament meetings. Southern Connecticut holds a 17-6-7 advantage in the all-time series, including a 5-2-2 edge in postseason play. Franklin Pierce is 1-0-1 against Southern in the NE-10 Tournament since the two programs joined the Conference prior to the 2000 season and the Ravens are 3-2-4 against the Owls over their last nine meetings.

The two sides played to a 0-0 double-overtime draw at Sodexo Field during the regular season meeting between the two back on September 20. Papageorgiou earned his first collegiate shutout, making three saves for Franklin Pierce as the Ravens notched their first clean sheet in eight matches to that point of the season. Esposito collected six stops to earn his third shutout of the year.    

2008 Northeast-10 Conference
Men's Soccer Championships

Sunday, November 2
Quarterfinal Round
#5 Merrimack (10-4-3, 7-4-2 NE-10) at #4 Le Moyne (12-4-2, 9-3-1 NE-10), Noon
#7 Assumption (6-6-5, 5-4-4 NE-10) at #2 Southern N.H. (13-2-3, 9-1-3 NE-10), 1 p.m.
#8 Bentley (8-8-2, 5-6-2 NE-10) at #1 UMass Lowell (10-2-4, 9-1-3 NE-10), 3 p.m.
#6 Southern Connecticut State (6-6-5, 5-3-5 NE-10) at #3 Franklin Pierce (11-7-1, 9-3-1 NE-10), 4 p.m.

Wednesday, November 5
Semifinal Round (at higher seeds)
Merrimack/Le Moyne winner vs. Bentley/UMass Lowell winner, TBA
Southern Conn. St/Franklin Pierce winner vs. Assumption/Southern N.H. winner, TBA

Saturday, November 8
Championship
at highest remaining seed, TBA