BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (September 8, 2018) – The Franklin Pierce University men's soccer teams early season offensive struggles continued Saturday evening in a 2-1 loss to non-conference opponent the University of Bridgeport at Knights Field. With the win, the Purple Knights improve to 2-1 overall while the Ravens drop to 1-3.

Before tonight, Pierce has only recorded two goals over the course of their previous three games. Their marker tonight was an own goal that tied the game as a Bridgeport player accidentally headed a crossing pass into his own cage. FPU has had good looks over the last couple of games, but have yet to cash them into the net. The Ravens led the game in shots 11-to-6, but only three of the 11 shot attempts were on goal.

Bridgeport took the lead 1-0 late in the 27th minute as Goncalo Mendes flicked a pass to Leandro Avila who blasted a shot attempt high into the top corner of the net. The own goal knotted the contest at 1-1 10 minutes later. The Purple Knights broke through for the game-winner in the 48th minute as Tom Godden stroked a through ball centering pass to Avila for his second marker of the game.

Junior defender Niklas Laudahn (Olfen, Germany) had an excellent opportunity to tie the game in the 67th minute following an FPU corner kick, but his strike clipped the crossbar and was cleared out of harm's way. One last bid by Jacob Maddox (Southborough, Mass.) was saved by Bridgeport netminder Daniel Coviella in the 90th minute.

Coviella moved to 2-1 on the season with two saves while Raven goalie Jadel Poon-Lewis (Diego Martin, Trinidad & Tobago) saw his record fall to 1-3 in the one save effort.

The Ravens return to Sodexo Field on Tuesday for their Northeast-10 Conference opener against Le Moyne College at 7:00 p.m.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://fpuravens.com). 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 apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (https://fpuravens.com/store). You can also follow the men's soccer team on Twitter (https://twitter.com/fpumsoccer), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/fpumsoccer/) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/fpumsoccer/).