Sam Meza turns in nine saves in shutout victory

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (September 21, 2013) – Sophomore forward Marius Preber (Jessheim, Norway) scored his first collegiate goal five minutes into the second overtime on Saturday to lift the Franklin Pierce University men’s soccer team to a 1-0 win over American International at Abdow Field in Springfield, Mass. The Ravens snapped a two-game losing streak in improving to 2-3 overall and 1-1 in the Northeast-10, while the Yellow Jackets fell to 2-3 and 0-2 in league play.

Preber connected from the top right corner of the box to the lower left corner of the net, as he logged a pair of shots on goal during the afternoon. Preber’s goal was the only attempt of the second extra session for either side.

Franklin Pierce rang up a 14-11 advantage in shots, with both teams putting nine attempts on net. Ravens junior keeper Sam Meza (Whittier, Calif.) stopped a career-high nine shots to earn his second shutout victory of the season in improving to 2-3 in goal.

Meza’s counterpart, AIC goalie Jason Ryan stopped eight of his nine shots faced and suffered the loss despite turning in a solid effort.

Graduate student Ryan Ruffing (Westborough, Mass.) logged a team-high three shots (all three on goal) for the Ravens, while Ed Sharman paced the Yellow Jackets with four attempts.

Franklin Pierce returns to action next Saturday when the Ravens return to Rindge to play host to Assumption at 7 p.m. in Sodexo Field.

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(.)