Ravens finish regular season unbeaten at home

BOXSCORE                                          

RINDGE, N.H. (October 26, 2010) – The No. 1-nationally-ranked Franklin Pierce University men’s soccer team capped its 2010 regular season home schedule with a satisfying 1-0 win over 10^th-ranked Southern New Hampshire on Tuesday evening at Sodexo Field in Rindge. The win ran the Ravens’ record to 13-1-1 overall, 11-0-1 in Northeast-10 play and 8-0-1 at home. SNHU dipped to 11-2-3 and 7-2-3 in league action.

The Ravens had learned earlier in the day that they were bumped to No. 1 in the nation, according to the NSCAA Division II National Top-25 Poll. The honor came just three days after Franklin Pierce captured the Northeast-10 regular season championship following its 2-1 overtime win at Assumption on Saturday.

However, Franklin Pierce did not have time to celebrate the ranking as the Penmen proved to be a tough out on this evening.

Both teams exchanged scoring opportunities early before the Ravens finally broke through in the 13^th minute with a goal from junior midfielder Diego Tabares (Seekonk, Mass.).

Tabares got the contest’s lone goal after he collected a loose ball and streaked down the right-hand side of the field past a SNHU defender. He worked his way into the upper right corner of the box and fired a shot past the out-stretched arms of Penmen goalkeeper Jon Mayo and into the upper portion of the net for the 1-0 advantage. It was Tabares’ fourth goal of the season.

Southern New Hampshire brought the play to Franklin Pierce’s side of the field late in the first half and the Penmen looked to have tied the game in the closing minutes of the period as an undetermined player among a mass of bodies in front of the goal headed in a shot. However, the referees waved off the goal as they deemed a foul had occurred before the shot when a SNHU attacker ran into Franklin Pierce goalkeeper Vinny Papageorgiou (Wilmington, Mass.), thus denying him an opportunity to make a play on the ball.

SNHU continued the strong offensive play in the opening stages of the second half, but Franklin Pierce settled down and started to dictate the pace of play in the closing minutes. Graduate forward Shaun Taylor (Isle of White, England) and junior midfielder Paul Latif (Birmingham, England) each narrowly missed scoring opportunities late as Franklin Pierce was able to work the ball deep into the offensive zone.

Southern New Hampshire never threatened after that and Papageorgiou earned the win in goal by stopping all five shots he faced. He ran his record to 13-1-1 on the season and produced his ninth shutout.

Franklin Pierce out-shot the Penmen by a count of 10-9, including getting six shots on goal compared to SNHU’s five.

A large and vocal crowd was on hand to watch the nation’s top-ranked team pick up the win as the contest featured a pair of events, including Pierce Pride Night and Senior Night. Prior to the match the 2010 senior class of Taylor, Jeff Hay (Dudley, Mass.), Shaliek Dawkins (Kingston, Jamaica), Bobby Cooley (Northborough, Mass.), Sjors Van Velzen (Heerlen, Netherlands), Andre Tameirao (Hyannis, Mass.) and Rob Harpin (Litchfield, Conn.) were honored for their time and service to the program, which helped produce some of the most memorable moments in program history, including Dawkins helping to lead the Ravens to the 2007 NCAA Division II National Championship.

The student body that turned out for Pierce Pride Night had the opportunity to take part in several in-game activities, including doing a dance-off to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” at halftime.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Saturday when the Ravens travel to face Saint Michael’s at 12 p.m. in Colchester, Vt. The match is the regular-season finale for both teams. The Ravens will kick off their run for a Northeast-10 Championship next Tuesday when they play host to a quarterfinal round match at Sodexo Field. Time and opponent are still to be determined.

For more information on Franklin Pierce men’s soccer, please visit the team’s page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.) To follow the program even further, please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on YouTube (www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceAthletics).