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Posted: Oct 08, 2008

UMass Lowell Slips Past Franklin Pierce, 1-0

UMass Lowell Slips Past Franklin Pierce, 1-0
Box Score

Sophomore midfielder Johan Torstensson was named the Jeff Burstein Man-of-the-Match by head coach Marco Koolman for his efforts in midfield for the Ravens. PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes.

Ravens NE-10 regular season unbeaten streak snapped on late goal off scramble

Boxscore 

LOWELL, Mass. (October 8, 2008) - Defending NCAA Division II Champion Franklin Pierce University saw its regular season unbeaten run in Conference play come to an end with a 1-0 setback to the University of Massachusetts Lowell in Northeast-10 men's soccer action at Cushing Field tonight.

In a tightly contested match where true scoring chances were at a premium, UMass Lowell took advantage of a loose ball inside the six after a corner kick to net the decisive goal. Junior back Rudy Kocandrle (Northboro, Mass./Algonquin) tapped in a loose ball at the far post during a scramble after Franklin Pierce failed to clear a corner kick in the 77th minute. The corner came from junior Jhony Valencia (Lowell, Mass./Lowell) on the right side and fell to classmate Jeffery Danso (Worcester, Mass./Burncoat), whose shot was blocked by a defender in the left channel before Kocandrle picked up the scraps for his first goal of the season.

Franklin Pierce saw its unbeaten streak in NE-10 regular season matches halted at 21 matches (18-0-3) dating back to a 1-0 setback at Saint Michael's College on October 14, 2006. Sophomore midfielder Johan Torstensson (Falköping, Sweden) was named the Jeff Burstein Man-of-the-Match for his efforts by Ravens head coach Marco Koolman. The award is given to Franklin Pierce's top player in its annual regular season match with UMass Lowell in memory of the 1998 Walter Peterson Male Student-Athlete of the Year who perished in an automobile accident near his hometown of Beachwood, N.J., on July 26, 2001. The former Ravens goalkeeper and standout baseball player, inducted into Franklin Pierce's Athletics Hall of Fame in 2007, served as an assistant coach at UMass Lowell for two years after graduating from Franklin Pierce.

Junior goalkeeper Ryan Richards (Holden, Mass./Wachusett) made two saves to preserve his fourth shutout of the season. Freshman Vinny Papageorgiou (Wilmington, Mass./Wilmington) was credited with six stops for Franklin Pierce.

Franklin Pierce had a great opportunity to take an early lead in the match as senior Frantz Francois (Saint-Marc, Haiti/Palm Beach Lakes (Fla.)) was stopped by Richards from close range less than seven minutes in.

Franklin Pierce (7-5-1, 5-1-1 NE-10) is back in action on Saturday when it hosts Assumption College at 7 p.m. UMass Lowell (5-2-3, 4-1-2 NE-10) hosts The College of Saint Rose on Saturday at 1 p.m.