Marques, Finlay add assists

RINDGE, N.H. (September 21, 2013) – Goals by sophomore forward Hannah Weagle (Ipswich, Mass.) in the 12th minute and freshman forward Nicole Chaet (Tewksbury, Mass.) in the 29th minute were all the offense the Franklin Pierce University women's soccer team needed on Saturday night to score a 2-1 victory over Southern Connecticut State in Northeast-10 Conference play at Sodexo Field. The victory marked the 300th career win for Franklin Pierce head coach Jeff Bailey.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 3-1-1 (2-0-1 Northeast-10), while Southern Connecticut State falls to 1-5-0 (0-3-0 Northeast-10).

Franklin Pierce controlled the run of play for much of the first half, enjoying advantages of 4-1 in shot attempts and 4-0 in shots on goal while capitalizing twice to take a 2-0 lead into the halftime break. The first of the pair was, by far, the slicker of the two, with sophomore midfielder Fernanda Marques (Sao Paulo, Brazil) lining up to take a corner kick after SCSU put the ball out across its own end line in the 12th minute. As the high, curling corner kick fell in front of the right post, Weagle rose to meet it with her head and redirected the ball inside the near post for her second goal of the season.

In the 29th minute, the Ravens struck again, as the SCSU defense broke down inside its own penalty area. Freshman midfielder Madison Finlay (Plymouth, Mass.) controlled the ball along the end line to the right-wing side of the net, and was working her way towards the penalty area. She sent the ball towards the middle, past a pair of SCSU defenders and the goalkeeper, to the feet of Chaet, who knocked the ball into the yawning net to make it 2-0 and score her third goal of the season.

The action died down from there, as neither team could find much in the way of offense through the middle stages of the game and into the latter portions of the second half. SCSU got on the board in the 82nd minute, after a seemingly harmless ball was sent into the box from the left side of the midfield. Franklin Pierce sophomore goalkeeper Katie Weldon (Manchester, N.H.) came off her line to collect the errant service, but muffed the catch on the play. The ball got behind Weldon, and senior midfielder Janie Jannitto was the first to get to it. Jannitto pushed it into the now-vacant net for her first goal of the season.

SCSU kept the pressure on through the final eight minutes of the game, but could never find the equalizer, as Franklin Pierce came away with the 2-1 win.

The Ravens return to the field on Tuesday, Sept. 24, when they travel to Stonehill for a Northeast-10 Conference contest. Game time is set for 4 p.m. at Skyhawk Field in Easton, Mass. Franklin Pierce next plays at home on Wednesday, Oct. 2 against Bentley at 7 p.m.

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 field hockey apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).