Tyler Rosa and Tom Wampler each assist on a Goncalves goal

Tyler Rosa assisted on the match-winning goal in Saturday's 2-0 triumph over Stonehill.

RINDGE, N.H. (September 24, 2011) – Senior forward Victor Goncalves (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) scored two second-half goals to lead the fourth-ranked Franklin Pierce University men’s soccer team to a 2-0 win over Stonehill on Saturday night at Sodexo Field in Rindge. The win ran Franklin Pierce’s record to 7-0 overall and 3-0 in the Northeast-10, while the loss dropped Stonehill to 3-4 and 1-2 in league play. The Ravens also moved into a tie for first place in the NE-10 standings with the triumph.

Goncalves broke the scoreless tie in the 74^th minute when he took a pass from junior back Tyler Rosa (Rehoboth, Mass.) down the left side, dribbled in and snuck a shot underneath the Stonehill keeper to the lower right corner of the net. Rosa notched an assist on the play for his third point of the season.

Two minutes later, Goncalves struck again from the same spot on the field where he scored his first marker. This time freshman midfielder Tom Wampler (Attleboro, Mass.) sent a long stretch pass down into the left corner where Goncalves retrieved it, dribbled in and sent a high shot to the upper right corner of the net for a 2-0 Ravens’ lead. Wampler tallied an assist on the play for his first collegiate point.

Goncalves ran his goal total to three on the season, which also moved him into a tie for the team lead in that category, along with senior back Tom Reilly (Wallasey, England) and junior midfielder Amory Houghton (Cape Elizabeth, Maine).

Franklin Pierce held the Skyhawks in check the rest of the way and senior goalkeeper Vinny Papageorgiou (Wilmington, Mass.) made a save late to preserve the shutout victory, marking the second-straight match he turned the trick. Papageorgiou improved to 7-0 on the season.

The win also extended Franklin Pierce’s streak of regular season matches without a loss to 20 (19-0-1). The Ravens’ 7-0 start is their best since joining the NE-10 prior to the 2000 season. In fact, Franklin Pierce is off to its best start since the 1995 squad began that campaign with a 14-0 record.

The match saw a scoreless first half, but not without some strong scoring chances from the Ravens. Senior midfielder Diego Tabares (Seekonk, Mass.) had three strong chances which came about from his strong dribbling with the ball, but his shots just missed wide of the net. Sophomore Gareth Dudney (North Andover, Mass.) also had a nice scoring chance in the first half as well.

Dudney, Tabares and Goncalves helped key a strong offensive attack for the Ravens as Goncalves fired off a match-high six shots, while the other two logged three shots apiece. Franklin Pierce held a 17-10 advantage in shots for the contest.

Stonehill freshman goalkeeper Adam Colella, the reigning NE-10 rookie of the week, made a solid seven saves despite suffering the loss to fall to 2-2 on the year.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Tuesday night when the Ravens play host to Saint Rose at 7 p.m. in Sodexo Field in Rindge.

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).