Goncalves tallies pair for Ravens

Box Score

MANCHESTER, N.H. (September 30, 2009) – Sophomore forward Victor Goncalves (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) scored twice on Wednesday afternoon as the Franklin Pierce University men’s soccer team played to a 2-2 draw at Saint Anselm in Northeast-10 Conference play. Senior midfielder Tyler Sangster scored a goal and added an assist for Saint Anselm.

With the draw, Franklin Pierce is now 6-3-2 (4-2-1 Northeast-10), while Saint Anselm moves to 2-6-2 (2-3-1 Northeast-10).

Franklin Pierce would score the only goal of the first half in the 27th minute on a bang-bang passing play. Sophomore forward Diego Tabares (Seekonk, Mass.) swung the ball wide to sophomore midfielder Paul Latif (Newcastle, England). Latif crossed the ball into the middle, where Goncalves got on the end of the service and knocked it home for his second goal of the season.

The remainder of the first half would go without a goal, though the two sides did pile up the shots. Franklin Pierce went into the halftime break with a 10-8 edge in shots, while each team attempted one corner kick.

After the first half-hour of the second half went without a goal as well, the teams combined to find the net three times over the final 15 minutes. First, in the 77th minute, Sangster scored his first of the season and drew the Hawks even at 1-1 as he got his head on a cross from freshman midfielder Matthew Campbell. Franklin Pierce sophomore goalkeeper Vinny Papageorgiou (Wilmington, Mass.) got his fingertips to the shot, but could not keep it out of the net.

Later, Franklin Pierce struck in the 88th minute, with just 2:50 to play in regulation, to take a 2-1 lead. It was Goncalves again, as he collected his second goal of the game off a feed from sophomore back Tom Reilly (Wallasey, England).

However, Saint Anselm would come up with the equalizer just 54 seconds later, with 1:56 to play in regulation, to knot the score at 2-2. Sophomore back Andrew Parker sent a feed in to Sangster, who played it off his chest right to sophomore forward Keesen Howe. Howe made the best of the opportunity and put the shot away to tally his first goal of the season.

The final 116 seconds of regulation and the 30 minutes of overtime would go by the boards without a goal, leaving the final score at 2-2. Over the course of the game, Franklin Pierce held a 24-21 advantage in shots and a 5-3 edge in corner kicks.

Papageorgiou stopped five of seven shots on his net to earn the draw (4-2-1) for Franklin Pierce. Senior goalkeeper John Corridan made 11 saves against 13 shots to pick up the draw (1-4-2) between the pipes for Saint Anselm.

The Ravens return to the pitch on Saturday, Oct. 3, when they travel to Southern Connecticut State for a Northeast-10 Conference contest. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Jess Dow Field in New Haven, Conn. Franklin Pierce next plays at home on Oct. 10 against Saint Rose at 7 p.m.