Men's Soccer Falls 1-0 to #12 Post University

Gareth Dudney fires off team-high five shots

RINDGE, N.H. (September 11, 2013) – The Franklin Pierce University men’s soccer team gave a spirited effort in the second half Wednesday night against No. 12-nationally ranked Post University, but it could not overcome a sluggish first half performance in a 1-0 setback to the Eagles at Sodexo Field in Rindge.

The Ravens dipped to 1-2 overall, while Post has begun the season 2-0 with wins at Southern New Hampshire and Franklin Pierce, which were both picked to finish first and second, respectively, in the Northeast-10 Conference standings according to the league’s preseason poll released earlier this month.

Raphael Moura scored the only goal Post needed in the 14^th minute when he took a stretch pass from Francisco Sastre, dribbled deep into the center of the box past multiple Raven defenders and struck a blast to the upper right corner of the net.

The goal, which was Moura’s second of the season, came on the Eagles’ first shot of the game, despite Post being outshot 18-9 in the contest.

Franklin Pierce did not generate much offensively in the opening 45 minutes, but picked up its offensive rhythm in the second half, narrowly missing on several attempts, including ones from senior Gareth Dudney (North Andover, Mass.) and graduate student Ryan Ruffing (Westborough, Mass.).

Andre Lindsay stopped all four shots he faced to post his second shutout win in as many tries this season. Franklin Pierce keeper Sam Meza (Whittier, Calif.) made five saves despite suffering the loss to fall to 1-2 on the year.

Franklin Pierce returns to action next Wednesday when the Ravens travel to Manchester to take on Southern New Hampshire at 7 p.m.

For more information on Franklin Pierce men’s soccer, please visit the team’s page at http://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/FranklinPierceRavens). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce men’s soccer apparel can do so on the athletic department’s online store at athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store(.)