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Posted: Nov 05, 2008

NE-10 SEMIFINAL: Franklin Pierce Advances to Fourth NE-10 Championship on PKs

NE-10 SEMIFINAL: Franklin Pierce Advances to Fourth NE-10 Championship on PKs
Box Score

Freshman goalkeeper Vinny Papageorgiou made five saves to preserve his seventh shutout of the season. He also made one stop in the penalty shootout as the Ravens advanced to its fourth NE-10 Tournament Championship match tonight. PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes. 

Third-seeded Ravens advance 4-3 on penalties after playing second-seeded and #13 Southern New Hampshire to 0-0 double-overtime draw

Boxscore 

MANCHESTER, N.H. (November 5, 2008) - Third-seeded Franklin Pierce University, the defending NCAA Division II Champions, will make its fourth appearance in the Northeast-10 Conference men's soccer championship match after advancing with a 4-3 decision on penalty kicks over second-seeded Southern New Hampshire University, ranked 13th in this week's National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas Division II poll, after the two sides played to a 0-0 double-overtime draw at Larkin Field this evening.

Franklin Pierce (12-7-2, 9-3-1 NE-10) will battle fourth-seeded Le Moyne College (13-4-3, 9-3-1 NE-10) for the NE-10 Championship at Sodexo Field in Rindge on Saturday at 1 p.m. Le Moyne advanced with a 2-1 double-overtime upset of top-seeded and No. 21-ranked University of Massachusetts Lowell (11-3-4, 9-1-3 NE-10) in tonight's other semifinal match. Franklin Pierce, who will be making its fourth NE-10 championship appearance since 2004, seeks its second tournament championship.

Southern New Hampshire senior back Ransford Shand (Brooklyn, N.Y./Herkimer CC) blasted his penalty kick in the fifth round over the upper left corner of the goal for a chance to force an extra round of penalties, but instead sent Franklin Pierce through to the final. All-American Bisharra Ettienne (Point Michel, Dominica) put the Ravens ahead by converting their fifth penalty.


All-American Bisharra Ettienne converted the deciding kick in the shootout and spearheaded a defensive unit which limited Southern New Hampshire's scoring chances. PHOTO BY Richard Orr Sports Photography.

Freshman goalkeeper Vinny Papageorgiou (Wilmington, Mass./Wilmington) made five saves to preserve his seventh shutout of the season for Franklin Pierce. Senior Sean Lambert (Rehoboth, Mass./Dighton-Rehoboth) posted his tenth shutout without making a save in regulation and two overtimes.

Southern New Hampshire finished with an 11-4 advantage in shots for the match, including 8-1 after halftime. The best scoring chances of the match for either side came for the Penmen early in the second half. Junior Paulson Edum (Calabar, Nigeria) saw his open volley from the center of the 18 parried around the left post by Papageorgiou in the 49th minute. On the ensuing corner kick, Papageorgiou scrambled to make a stop on the right post on a shot by junior Richard Kentish (Kingston, Jamaica).

Franklin Pierce's best bids were a pair of half chances from grad student Casey Ftorek (Wolfeboro, N.H./Taft School) and senior Cole Larned (Wilton, Conn./Wilton) in the 13th minute - neither of which ended up on target.

In the shootout, both teams converted their first two attempts before Lambert made a diving stop of senior Frantz Francois (Saint-Marc, Haiti/Palm Beach Lakes (Fla.)) in the third round. Papageorgiou put the shootout back on level turns right away with a save to his right on junior Kevin Woods (Alyth, Scotland). Both sides converted in the fourth round before Ettienne hit his kick and Shand missed the target to end the match.