Greg Giguere scores match-winner with four minutes left in OT

MANCHESTER, N.H. (September 17, 2011) -- The No. 9 nationally ranked Franklin Pierce University men's soccer team picked up a huge road win on Saturday night with a 2-1 overtime triumph at No. 4 Southern New Hampshire at Larkin Field in Manchester, N.H. The Ravens improved to 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the Northeast-10, while the Penmen fell to 3-2 and 1-2 in league play.

With the win, Franklin Pierce ran its regular season unbeaten streak to 18-straight matches (17-0-1) dating back to last season.

Southern New Hampshire outshot Franklin Pierce, 22-9, in the contest, but could not solve Ravens senior goalkeeper Vinny Papageorgiou (Wilmington, Mass.) for a major portion of the night. The Franklin Pierce keeper made seven saves to earn the win and run his record to 5-0 on the season.

Franklin Pierce jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 27th minute as senior back Tom Reilly (Wallasey, England) headed in a corner kick attempt from Paul Latif (Newcastle, England) for his team-best third tally of the season. Reilly was able to rise above two Penmen defenders to put his head on the ball to slam it to the right corner of the net. Latif was credited with an assist on the play, marking the second-straight match he logged a helper for the Ravens.

Reilly's goal also marked the third-straight Franklin Pierce tally (dating back over the past two games) that was scored off a header attempt.

The Ravens took a 1-0 lead into halftime despite being outshot 7-5 by SNHU. Papageorgiou made a pair of saves in the half to make Reilly's goal stand up.

Both teams traded a shot in the early stages of the second half, but after that the match settled into a midfield struggle. Southern New Hampshire, though, did break through with an excellent scoring opportunity with 18:30 left in the match, but Chris Pereira's shot from low in the box was sent high and to the left of the goal, thus keeping Franklin Pierce's lead at a goal. Pereira had another chance minutes later, but Papageorgiou was able to make a diving save to keep the shutout going.

SNHU, however, did find an answer and with a little more than four minutes remaining in regulation got the equalizer when Chris Tsonis fired off a shot that beat Papageorgiou to the bottom right corner of the net.

The teams entered overtime, but the Ravens ended it with four minutes left in the first extra session as Victor Goncalves (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) fired a shot towards the net off a free-kick attempt, and Greg Giguere (East Bridgewater, Mass.) got a foot on the loose ball and sent it into the lower left corner of the goal for the match-winner. It was Giguere's first of the season and Goncalves was credited with an assist on the play.

Saturday night marked Franklin Pierce's third-straight triumph over Southern New Hampshire dating back to last season. The Ravens handed the Penmen a 1-0 setback during the regular season last year. The two teams then squared off in the second round of last season's NCAA Division II Tournament and both played to a 1-1 draw before Franklin Pierce advanced to the national quarterfinals via penalty kicks 4-1.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Tuesday when the Ravens play host to Dowling at 4 p.m. in Sodexo Field. The contest will be a rematch of last season's NCAA Division II quarterfinal which the Lions won, 1-0, at 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).