RINDGE, N.H. (September 3, 2016) – Freshman midfielder Jacob Blixt (Borrby, Sweeden) had a collegiate debut for the ages as the Franklin Pierce University men's soccer team rolled to a 5-2 victory over non-conference opponent University of Bridgeport Saturday afternoon. The win, the Ravens first season opening victory in three years, moves them to 1-0-0 on the young season and the setback drops the Purple Knights to 0-2-0.

The swede tallied a hat-trick (three-goals) and an assist in his first ever college game racking up two goals in the first half and an unassisted marker in the second stanza. Senior captain Marius Preber (Jessheim, Norway), the squads leading goal and points scorer from a year ago, tallied two goals of his own.

Five freshman started the game for the Ravens.

Blixt got the party started four minutes in when the newcomer sniped a rocket from 25 yards out into the left side of the net, just past the outstretched keepers' hands. Exactly 10 minutes later, Blixt hooked up Preber with a through ball that the senior forward pushed past Purple Knight goaltender Daniel Coviella to put the hosts up 2-0 early on.

Right before the half, Blixt added his second tally as he followed a Niklas Laudahn (Olfen, Germany) shot that was blocked by a Bridgeport player. Blixt corralled the rebound and deposited a shot into the bottom center of the net to give the crimson and grey a commanding 3-0 lead heading into the intermission.

Preber made it 4-0 FPU in the 51st minute as he collected a cross from Casey Schehl (Bedford, N.H.) and toed the attempt in up high to increase the lead to 4-0.

Blixt nabbed his third score off a free kick 15 yards out that sailed into the left side of the cage.

Femi Coker scored twice for the Purple Knights in the second half.

Making his collegiate debut, goalkeeper Jadel Poon-Lewis (Diego Martin, Trinidad and Tobago) made one save and moved to 1-0-0 on the year. Daniel Coviella stopped five shots and dropped to 0-2-0 before being replaced by Juan Munoz with 18 minutes to go.

The Ravens return to the pitch next Saturday when they travel to Molloy for a 7:00 p.m. showdown.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce athletic apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).