Reilly's goal assisted by freshman Trent Roy

BOXSCORE

RINDGE, N.H. (September 4, 2011) – The No. 6-nationally ranked Franklin Pierce University men’s soccer team got a late goal from senior back Tom Reilly (Wallasey, England) to pull out a 1-0 win over Wilmington (Del.) University on Sunday at Sodexo Field in Rindge. The Ravens improved to 2-0 overall, while Wilmington dipped to 0-2-1.

Reilly scored the match-winner in the 80^th minute as he took a header pass from freshman Trent Roy (Stratham, N.H.) at the top of the box in front of the net, and fired a shot to the lower left corner of the goal to give Franklin Pierce the 1-0 advantage. It was the first goal of the season for Reilly, who is the reigning Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Year. Roy earned an assist on the play for his first career collegiate point.

Roy was able to get the header off of a corner kick attempt from sophomore Gareth Dudney (North Andover, Mass.). Dudney got the opportunity after senior midfielder Diego Tabares (Seekonk, Mass.) dribbled deep into the box, but had his shot blocked away and out of bounds by a Wilmington defender, thus setting up the corner attempt.

The goal broke the scoreless tie which had been a product of solid defensive play by both sides all day.

Franklin Pierce outshot the Wildcats, 16-1, in the contest, but most of those attempts were one-shot opportunities as the Ravens could never muster a barrage of shots at any one moment.

The back end of the Ravens was spectacular and didn’t allow the Wildcats to record their first shot until 15 minutes were remaining in regulation. The lone shot Wilmington did manage was a good opportunity, but senior goalkeeper Vinny Papageorgiou (Wilmington, Mass.) was there to make the save and keep the shutout intact.

Tabares recorded four shots on the day, while Dudney had three coming off the bench. Reilly and junior forward Greg Giguere (East Bridgewater, Mass.) each had a pair of shots in the contest.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Thursday when the Ravens play host to Bridgeport at 4 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), Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceAthletics).