RINDGE, N.H. (September 2, 2016) – Two goals in the first half and two more in the second half on Friday night sent the Franklin Pierce University women's soccer team to a 4-0, season-opening win over Felician on the first day of the Franklin Pierce Classic at Sodexo Field. Forward Madison Finlay (Plymouth, Mass.) started her senior campaign in style with a pair of goals on the night, while sophomore forward Nathalia Maria da Silva (Sao Paulo, Brazil) tallied a goal and an assist.

With the win, Franklin Pierce opens its season at 1-0-0, while Felician falls to 0-1-0.

Franklin Pierce controlled the run of play all night, to the tune of a 21-6 advantage in shot attempts, which included a 7-2 edge in shots on goal. The Ravens struck early for the only goal they would need, on the first career marker for freshman forward Sophie Cousineau (Milton, Mass.), who was making her collegiate debut. It was da Silva who laid the ball off to the left side for Cousineau in the seventh minute. The latter took her shot from approximately 20 yards out and tucked it inside the right post to open the scoring.

The game would remain 1-0 until the final minute of the first half, when Finlay put away her first of the night. In the aftermath of a corner kick, the ball went off a Felician player towards her own goal, but ricocheted off the right post. Finlay put her head to the rebound and put the ball away into the left half of the net to double the lead heading into halftime.

Da Silva pushed the lead to 3-0 in the 60th minute, as she took a pass from junior midfielder Midori Ono (Tokyo, Japan) on the left side and unleashed a shot from outside the top of the box. The ball arced beyond the outstretched hands of the diving keeper and curled inside the far post for da Silva's first goal of the campaign.

Finlay capped the scoring in the 84th minute to complete her double. With the ball in the box and play moving from right to left, she took a shot back against traffic from 15 yards out which finished inside the right post to create the 4-0 final.

Junior goalkeeper Casey Cook (Beverly, Mass.) played the opening 85 minutes in net for Franklin Pierce and stopped the only shot on her goal to pick up the win (1-0-0). Freshman Ashley Spellman (Lancaster, Mass.) made her collegiate debut and stopped one shot over the final 4:50 to finish off the shutout for the Ravens. At the other end of the field, senior goalkeeper Bjonda Ademi (0-1-0) made three saves against seven shots on goal in a losing effort for Felician.

The Ravens return to the field on Sunday, Sept. 4, when they remain home to take on Caldwell on the second day of the Franklin Pierce Classic. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. at Sodexo Field.

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