Written by Director of Athletic Communications Luke Tracy 

Raven Standouts:
Younes Addar Khanoussi: 3 goals
Tiago Barriguinha: 1 goal
Aitor Cuenca Retuerto: 1 goal

WALTHAM, MASS. (9/26/2023) – The no. 1 nationally ranked Franklin Pierce University men's soccer program improved to a 7-0 (4-0, NE10) record Tuesday after taking down the Falcons of Bentley University in a 5-2 victory.

The first half of the game was the "Younes Addar Khanoussi Show", after the graduate student from Castellon, Spain led the way with a hat trick in the first 22 minutes of the game. The only response from Bentley in the first half was a goal by Lukras Drahos who slipped one by the Ravens around the 11 minute mark. Going into halftime, the Ravens held a 3-1 lead.

After a four-goal first half, a scoring drought hit both teams as neither the Ravens nor the Falcons could find the back of the net for 35 minutes.

At 56:36 in the second half, Bentley cut the Ravens lead to one after Drahos scored his second goal of the game. The Falcons set up for a free kick from the top of the box but after the ball went wide left, Bentley was given a second chance with a corner kick. Chad Meyers of the Falcons launched the ball across the goalie crease, where he found Drahos who headed the ball bottom left, cutting the Ravens lead to 3-2.

It took the Ravens another 20 minutes to get back on the board in the 77^th minute when Tiago Barriguina (Alverca, Portugal) offered some breathing room for the Ravens boosting the team lead to 4-2. Off a corner kick, a mad scramble of Ravens and Falcons battled for the ball in the middle of the box. Pelayo Gonzalez Suarez secured possession of the ball and hit a low cross to the other side of the box to Barriguina who on one knee headed the ball by the Falcon's goal keeper.

The final nail in the casket came with just one-minute left on the clock. Sophomore midfielder DJ Tucker (Hopedale, Mass.) fired a shot from the top of the box which was saved by the Bentley keeper. Ricocheting back into play, the ball landed directly in front of FPU grad-student midfielder Aitor Cuenca Retuerto (Bilboa, Spain) who then fired a second shot that went bar down, securing the 5-2 lead. From there, the Ravens were able to burn out the rest of the clock and secure the team's 7^th win of the season.

NEXT FOR THE RAVENS: The Ravens continue their four-game road trip on Saturday September, 30 when the team will travel to The University of New Haven to face the Chargers at 1 PM.