Amory Houghton scores twice; Paul Latif fires in match-winner

BOXSCORE

RINDGE, N.H. (September 2, 2011) – The No. 6-nationally ranked Franklin Pierce University men's soccer team rallied from an early deficit Friday night to claim a 4-1, season-opening win over Bloomfield College at Sodexo Field in Rindge. The Ravens improved to 1-0, while the Deacons fell to 0-1.

After spotting Bloomfield an early 1-0 lead seven minutes into the contest following a Claude Allen goal, Franklin Pierce picked up the intensity and went to work pulling off the come-from-behind victory.

Junior midfielder Amory Houghton (Cape Elizabeth, Maine), who would log two goals in the contest, got his first tally of the evening in the 26^th minute when he forced a turnover and lofted a shot over the goalkeeper's out-stretched arms into the top center of the net for a 1-1 tie.

The teams were tied heading into the second half, but the Ravens quickly put away Bloomfield with a barrage of goals during a six-minute span midway through the stanza.

Senior midfielder Paul Latif (Newcastle, England) gave Franklin Pierce its first lead of the contest in the 58^th minute when he dribbled down into the deep left corner and floated a high crossing shot which found its way to the upper right corner of the net for a 2-1 advantage.

Three minutes later Houghton tallied his second marker as he beat the Bloomfield keeper with another high-arching shot. Senior midfielder Diego Tabares (Seekonk, Mass.) capped the scoring minutes later with a spectacular goal as he dribbled through a slew of Deacon defenders and slid a strike to the top-center of the net.

Franklin Pierce outshot Bloomfield, 15-7, and was able to get eight of those shots on goal. The Ravens fired off 10 shots in the second 45 minutes as they completely controlled the pace of play.

After yielding a goal on the first shot he saw, Franklin Pierce senior goalkeeper Vinny Papageorgiou (Wilmington, Mass.) made five saves to prevent Bloomfield from expanding their lead further.

Franklin Pierce's win came against a strong opponent as Bloomfield earned a trip to last season's NCAA Division II Tournament. In fact, the Deacons played at Sodexo Field in the national tournament as they dropped a tough 3-0 decision to Southern New Hampshire in the first round.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Sunday when the Ravens play host to Wilmington (Del.) at 1 p.m. in Sodexo Field.

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), Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceAthletics) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics).