MANCHESTER, N.H. (September 18, 2018) – The goals came fast and furious in the final 20 minutes at Penmen Stadium on Tuesday night. Holding a 2-1 lead, the No. 24 nationally ranked Franklin Pierce University women's soccer team pushed the margin out to 3-1, before Southern New Hampshire struck twice in 97 seconds to level things at 3-3 with under 15 minutes to play. In the end, junior midfielder Gabi Pereira (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) buried a free kick in the 85^th minute to lift the Ravens to a 4-3 win on the road in Northeast-10 Conference play.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 5-0-0 (4-0-0 NE10), while Southern New Hampshire falls to 4-3-0 (2-2-0 NE10). For Franklin Pierce, it marks the team's best start since 2004, when the Ravens won their first seven on the way to an appearance in the national quarterfinals.

The Ravens opened the scoring with a bang shortly after the midpoint of the first half, as senior midfielder Nathalia Maria da Silva (Sao Paulo, Brazil) struck twice in a span of just 67 seconds to stake Franklin Pierce to a 2-0 lead. First, in the 26^th minute, junior forward Veronica Marques (Sao Paulo, Brazil) found da Silva at the top of the penalty area and the latter buried her shot into the left side of the net. It was da Silva's fourth goal of the season.

She quickly followed with her fifth goal of the season, to tie Marques for the team lead. This time, in the 27^th minute, da Silva took the ball and made her way inside the top of the box on her own. With her momentum taking her from left to right, she fired a low shot against the grain and put it inside the left post for her second goal of the night. For da Silva, it marked her second multiple-goal game in five contests to open the season, as she also scored twice in Franklin Pierce's opener on Aug. 30.

Things would settle in from there, but the quick spurt ultimately foreshadowed a wild finish to the night. First though, SNHU cut the lead in half before the intermission, with a tally in the 37^th minute. Freshman forward Sydney Carney set things up by chipping the ball to fellow freshman forward Dorthea Glorud in the right side of the penalty area. The latter found a shooting lane from there and tucked a shot inside the far post to make it a 2-1 game.

On the other side of halftime, Franklin Pierce tacked on an insurance marker in the 72^nd minute. Marques took the original shot on the play, which was saved by SNHU freshman goalkeeper Hannah Rose. Rose could not control the rebound though, and the ball came to the right side of the box for junior forward Sophie Cousineau (Milton, Mass.), who put her second goal of the season into the left side of the net.

Shortly thereafter, SNHU put home a pair of markers in quick succession to draw even at 3-3. In the 76^th minute, graduate student midfielder Sydney Crema had an easy finish off a rebound for her first goal of the year, while Glorud picked up an assist.

Just 97 seconds later, in the 77^th minute, persistence paid off for junior midfielder Emily Roan on the equalizer. Her first shot on the play beat the goalkeeper, but was kept out by the efforts of the Franklin Pierce back line. Unfortunately for the defense, the rebound came straight back to Roan, who put it away on the second effort for her first goal of the season.

The Ravens proved to have some persistence of their own however, as they would find the game-winner in regulation. After the attack drew a foul, Pereira stood over an 85^th-minute free kick and slotted it into the right side of the net for her first goal of the season, which would stand as the game-winner.

Freshman goalkeeper Casey Kane (Millis, Mass.) started in goal and made two saves against three shots on goal for the Ravens, before departing in the 70^th minute. Junior Carmen Proffitt (Brooklyn, N.Y.) made one stop against three shots over the final 20:02 to pick up the win (1-0-0), which was her first as a Raven.

At the other end of the field, Rose (3-3-0) made three saves against seven shots on goal and suffered the loss for SNHU.

The Ravens return to the field on Saturday, Sept. 22, when they travel to Saint Anselm for an NE10 contest. Game time is set for 11 a.m. at Melucci Field in Manchester.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (https://www.fpuraves.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 soccer apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (https://www.fpuravens.com/store).