Ravens back in action at home vs. Saint Michael’s on Saturday

Box Score

MANCHESTER, N.H. (September 9, 2009) – Senior forward Adrian Schippers scored the game-winning goal in the 48th minute on Wednesday night to lead No. 10 nationally ranked Southern New Hampshire to a 2-0 win over the Franklin Pierce University men’s soccer team in Northeast-10 Conference play at Larkin Field. The contest was the Northeast-10 opener for both teams.

With the win, Southern New Hampshire improves to 4-1-0 (1-0-0 Northeast-10), while Franklin Pierce falls to 2-2-1 (0-1-0 Northeast-10) with the loss.

Franklin Pierce narrowly missed on a chance to make it 1-0 in the 28th minute. Senior midfielder Kensaku Tsuji (Tokushima, Japan) took a corner kick from the left side. Graduate student back Kevin Neumen (Miller Place, N.Y.) got his head to the service at the top of the six-yard box, but popped his attempt just over the crossbar at the upper-right corner of the cage.

The best scoring chance of the first half for Southern New Hampshire came in the 34th minute. Junior midfielder Danny Hernandez took the ball outside the top of the penalty area on the left side. He ran his defender to the right into the middle of the field, got a step ahead and unleashed a right-footed shot just over the top of the cage.

In the waning moments of the half, graduate student midfielder Frantz Francois (West Palm Beach, Fla.) found himself with the ball and space in the right channel in the 42nd minute. He let a shot fly from 25 yards out which missed outside the left post.

Neither team was able to put together much else in the way of offense in the opening half. Franklin Pierce enjoyed a slim, 10-9 advantage in shots in the first stanza.

Southern New Hampshire wasted no time getting on the board in the second half, as they broke the ice in the 48th minute. Schippers got the ball at the top of the penalty area in the right channel and fired a shot that beat Franklin Pierce sophomore goalkeeper Vinny Papageorgiou (Wilmington, Mass.) inside the left post to give the Penmen a 1-0 lead.

The Ravens nearly found the equalizer on a counter-attack in the 56th minute. Sophomore midfielder Paul Latif (Newcastle, England) made a long run with the ball down the left wing and eventually worked it into the middle to sophomore midfielder Diego Tabares (Seekonk, Mass.) who had space outside the top of the penalty area. He uncorked a shot from just outside of 20 yards towards the lower-right corner and forced SNHU graduate student goalkeeper Sean Lambert to make a sprawling save.

Southern New Hampshire nearly put the game away in the 73rd minute in a scramble off a corner kick. After the initial attempt was cleared, the Penmen served the ball back into the penalty area from the left side. Senior back Richard Kentish got his head to the ball and directed it toward the top of the net, but Papageorgiou was just able to get his fingertips to the shot and redirect it over the crossbar.

The Penmen all but put the game on ice with an 80th-minute goal to double the lead off a nice build up from the right side. Sophomore midfielder Ethan Lapierre laid it off to freshman midfielder Ruben Resendes, who found senior midfielder Kevin Woods in the middle of the box. Woods buried the chance inside the left post to extend the Southern New Hampshire lead to 2-0.

Southern New Hampshire controlled much of the play in the second half, to the tune of a 9-5 shots advantage, which gave them an 18-15 edge for the game. The Penmen attempted six corner kicks to four for Franklin Pierce.

Lambert stopped all four shots on his cage to notch his third shutout of the season and pick up the win (4-1-0) in net for Southern New Hampshire. Papageorgiou made five saves against seven shots and took the loss (0-1-0) in his first appearance in front of the cage for Franklin Pierce.

The Ravens return to the pitch on Saturday, Sept. 12, when they return home to host Saint Michael’s in a Northeast-10 Conference contest. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Sodexo Field in Rindge, N.H.