Men's Soccer Stifles University of Bridgeport, 3-0

RINDGE, N.H. (9/6/2022) --- A team effort all around tonight by the Franklin Pierce men's soccer team as they took care of business against the Bridgeport Purple Knights 3-0 on a rainy night at Sodexo Field. 

With the win, Franklin Pierce remains undefeated in the 2022 season, moving to 5-0-0 on the season, with shutouts in four of their first five contests. With the loss, Bridgeport will fall to 1-2-1, losing back-to-back games against Northeast-10 Conference opponents. 

In the first half, the Ravens outshot the Purple Knights 5-1, with both teams going back and forth to create scoring chances in the offensive zone. In the 23rd minute, Younes Addar (Castellon, Spain) received a great pass from Braudillio Rodrigues (Lisbon, Portugal), and Addar buried it past Purple Knight goalkeeper Clement Anet to make it 1-0 Franklin Pierce. Addar would pick up his third goal of the season, and Rodrigues would get his third assist. Addar has three goals in two games and has impacted the Ravens in his first year with the team. 

In the second half, the Ravens poured on the shots outshooting the Purple Knights 13-2. The second-half surge was in full swing for Franklin Pierce as they wanted to add insurance goals to put the game out of reach for Bridgeport to come back. In the 49th minute, Rodrigues scored his fourth goal of the season on a penalty kick to give the Ravens a 2-0 lead. Then in the 79th minute, Marc Lopez scored his second goal of the season through a maze of traffic in the box and lifted it over the head of Anet to make it 3-0 Franklin Pierce. 

The Ravens finished the game outshooting the Purple Knights 18-3. Kosta Maniatis (Montreal, Quebec) got the start in goal and made two saves in the win. Maniatis has started all five games this season and has four shutouts, and he has picked up right where he left off in 2021. Anet made four saves in the loss and moved to a 1-2-1 record this season. 

Franklin Pierce has completed their out-of-conference schedule for the season, and will return to conference competition as they face Bentley University on the road in Waltham, Massachusetts, for a noon kickoff on Sunday, September 11th.