Freshman assists on game-winner, adds insurance marker

Box Score

 RINDGE, N.H. (September 12, 2009) – Freshman forward Nicholas Schibly (Litchfield, N.H.) assisted on the game-winning goal in the first half and added an insurance goal of his own in the second half on Wednesday night as the Franklin Pierce University men’s soccer team defeated Massachusetts Lowell, 3-0, in Northeast-10 Conference play at Sodexo Field. Sophomore goalkeeper Vinny Papageorgiou (Wilmington, Mass.) made three saves to post the shutout for Franklin Pierce.

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

Franklin Pierce scored the only goal of the first half in the 24th minute. Senior midfielder Kensaku Tsuji (Tokushima, Japan) sent a cross into the goalmouth from the right wing, but it was punched away by Massachusetts Lowell senior goalkeeper Ryan Richards. However, Richards deflected it right to the feet of Schibly in the left side of the penalty area. Schibly found sophomore midfielder Diego Tabares (Seekonk, Mass.) at the penalty spot and he buried a shot in the middle of the cage for his fourth goal of the season to give the Ravens a 1-0 lead over his former team.

Neither team mustered much else in the way of offensive threats throughout the remainder of the half. Franklin Pierce enjoyed an 8-2 edge in shots in the opening stanza, but only three shot attempts were on-target, all by the Ravens.

Franklin Pierce wasted no time extending the lead in the second half, as they made it 2-0 just 1:23 into the period. Tsuji took a corner kick on the right side and his service found the head of graduate student back Kevin Neumen (Miller Place, N.Y.). Neumen redirected the ball into the lower-left corner for his first goal in a Ravens uniform after transferring in from Providence. For Neumen, it was his first goal since Sept. 26, 2006.

For his efforts, Neumen was named the Jeff Burstein Man-of-the-Match by Head Coach Craig Stewart. The award is given to Franklin Pierce's top player in its annual regular season match with Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts Lowell for two years after graduating from Franklin Pierce.

The Ravens pushed the lead to 3-0 and put the game away less than two minutes later on a free kick in the 55th minute. Tabares took the free kick from 30 yards out on the right side and served it to the top of the six-yard box. Schibly was there and got his head to the ball and deflected it inside the left post for his second goal of the season. The goal marked the first time Schibly, who made his first collegiate start in the game, figured in on multiple goals in the same game.

Massachusetts Lowell found some offense in the second half and enjoyed a 10-6 edge in shots in the period, but could not find the back of the net. For the game, Franklin Pierce enjoyed a 14-12 edge in shots and a 7-1 advantage in corner kicks.

Papageorgiou stopped all three shots on his cage to earn the victory (2-1-0) and his second straight clean sheet in net for Franklin Pierce. He now holds a shutout streak of 190:34, dating to Sept. 9 at Southern New Hampshire.

Richards made three saves against six shots and took the loss (2-2-0) between the pipes for Massachusetts Lowell.

The Ravens return to the pitch on Saturday, Sept. 16, when they remain home to host New Haven in a Northeast-10 Conference contest. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Sodexo Field.