Vinny Papageorgiou makes five saves to earn 35th career shutout

Trent Roy fired in his second goal in as many matches in Saturday's 1-0 triumph over Assumption.

(Post-Game Video Below Story)

RINDGE, N.H. (October 22, 2011) – The No. 2 nationally ranked Franklin Pierce University men’s soccer team honored its eight-man senior class with a 1-0 win over Assumption on Senior Night Saturday at Sodexo Field in Rindge. Franklin Pierce improved to 14-0-1 and 10-0-1 in the Northeast-10, while the Greyhounds fell to 2-9-1 and 2-8-1 in league play.

Prior to the match, Franklin Pierce honored its senior class, including Jake Wright (Los Angeles, Calif.), Michael Pelletier (Littleton, N.H.), Diego Tabares (Seekonk, Mass.), Paul Latif (Newcastle, England), Michael Busto (Honolulu, Hawai’i), Vinny Papageorgiou (Wilmington, Mass.), co-captain Victor Goncalves (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and co-captain Tom Reilly (Wallasey, England).

After each senior was introduced to the crowd it was time to kick off the match, but neither side could generate much offensive rhythm in the first half. Franklin Pierce outshot the Greyhounds, 6-2, in the opening 45 minutes, but could not muster many quality scoring chances.

Franklin Pierce played solid defensively in the first half and held Assumption to without a shot for the first 32 minutes. Papageorgiou made a pair of saves to keep the match scoreless at intermission.

The Ravens, though, shook off their sluggish offensive play with quality chances in the opening minutes of the second half. On a night when the seniors were honored, it was a freshman that put Franklin Pierce on top 1-0 in the 47th minute when Trent Roy (Stratham, N.H.) took a pass from Amory Houghton (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) in front of the goal and slipped a shot into the lower left corner of the net. It was Roy’s second of the season, as both tallies have come over the last two matches. Houghton was credited with an assist on the play which was his second of the campaign.

Assumption didn’t back down and tried to mount a comeback. However, every time the Greyhounds would generate a scoring opportunity, Papageorgiou was there to make a timely save to preserve the shutout. He made fives during the entire contest to earn the shutout victory and run his record to 14-0-1 on the season. He has a 53-11-7 career record with 35 career shutouts.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Tuesday when the Ravens travel to Waltham, Mass. to face Bentley at 3:30 p.m. The contest will be a rematch of last season’s NE-10 title tilt, which the Ravens won, 1-0, 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).