RINDGE, N.H. (November 3, 2018) – The No. 8 nationally ranked Franklin Pierce University women's soccer team will look to earn its league-record eighth Northeast-10 Conference title on Sunday afternoon, as well as its first league crown since 2006. The top-seeded Ravens, coming off a raucous, overtime affair in the semifinal round, will host sixth-seeded Assumption in the final of the NE10 Championship. Opening kickoff is set for 5 p.m. at Sodexo Field.

The winner of Sunday afternoon's contest earns the NE10's automatic berth into the NCAA Championship, which begins next week. 

Northeast-10 Conference Championship
(Seeds in parentheses)

Tuesday, October 30 – Quarterfinals
Game 1: (1) Franklin Pierce def. (8) American International, 5-1
Game 2: (2) Southern New Hampshire def. (7) Southern Connecticut State, 2-1 (2 OT)
Game 3: (6) Assumption def. (3) Stonehill, 2-1
Game 4: (4) Saint Rose def. (5) Saint Anselm, 5-0 

Friday, November 2 – Semifinals
Game 5: Franklin Pierce def. Saint Rose, 6-5 (OT)
Game 6: Assumption def. Southern New Hampshire, 2-0 

Sunday, November 4 – Final
Game 7: Assumption at Franklin Pierce – 5 p.m.

Scouting the Ravens

Franklin Pierce (14-1-2) opened the postseason in style on Tuesday night, as the Ravens blitzed eighth-seeded American International at home, 5-1. Things were more challenging in Friday afternoon's semifinal, but the team got the job done again, taking a wild, back-and-forth affair from fourth-seeded Saint Rose, 6-5, in overtime. Senior midfielder Nathalia Maria da Silva (Sao Paulo, Brazil) scored twice, including the overtime winner, while junior forward Veronica Marques (Sao Paulo, Brazil) added two goals and two assists. Each team erased a two-goal deficit in the contest.

Franklin Pierce was ranked first in the most recent version of the East Region rankings on Wednesday, so the team will earn a berth in the NCAA Championship, regardless of the outcome of Sunday's game. Eight teams will qualify for the East Regional, with each of the region's three conferences – the NE10, the East Coast Conference and the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference – guaranteed an automatic bid for their tournament champion. The three champions will be joined by five at-large selections. The field will be split into two groups of four teams, with the region's top two seeds each hosting the first and second rounds of the tournament. The NCAA selection show will be broadcast on ncaa.com, and is set for 6:30 p.m. Monday. Franklin Pierce is expected to be one of the East Region's two hosts, and will likely play as the top seed.

On the field, the Ravens have excelled on both sides of the ball, including the league's highest-octane scoring offense, at 2.82 goals per game. The NE10 Player of the Year, Marques, leads the charge, as she sits second in the league in points (38), with 14 goals and 10 assists. The 14 goals are third in the NE10, while the 10 assists are tied for second. There are five Ravens who have reached double digits in points this season, and Marques is followed by her country-mate da Silva, who has 29 points, on 13 goals and three assists. Meanwhile, the Franklin Pierce defense ranks third in the league, at 1.02 goals-against per game. The back line has authored seven shutouts on the season.

Freshman goalkeeper Casey Kane (Millis, Mass.) has played the lion's share of the minutes in net for the Ravens. She is third in the NE10 in goals-against average (0.91) and has posted a .731 save percentage on the campaign.

Scouting the Greyhounds

Assumption (11-6-2) has taken a decidedly less-explosive route through the NE10 Championship, but has two impressive results to its name nonetheless. In Tuesday's quarterfinal, the Greyhounds slipped past third-seeded Stonehill on the road, 2-1. Then, in Friday's semifinal, goals from senior forward Kallie Villemaire and sophomore forward Brooke Shatney lifted Assumption to another road win, 2-0 at second-seeded Southern New Hampshire, the defending NE10 champion. Sunday marks Assumption's sixth all-time trip to the NE10 title game. The Greyhounds have finished as runners-up in each of their previous five appearances.

Assumption did not crack the top 10 in this week's NCAA East Region rankings, so the season will be on the line for the Greyhounds again Sunday, as it has been throughout the NE10 Championship. It is presumed Assumption's only path to the NCAA Championship field is to win on Sunday and lock up the NE10's automatic berth to the East Regional.

Assumption is in the top third of the league in scoring offense, as its 1.84 goals per game is tied for fifth in the NE10. Villemaire, an All-NE10 First Team pick, is far-and-away the most dangerous threat for the Greyhounds, as her 15 goals are tied for the lead in the NE10. She has added four assists along the way and sits third in the league in points, with 34. Villemaire leads four Greyhounds who have tallied double digits in points, though none of the others have topped the 15-point mark yet. The Assumption defense is in the middle of the pack and ranks seventh in the NE10 in goals-against average (1.22).

Junior goalkeeper Alexis Nason has logged the vast majority of the minutes in front of the Assumption goal. She comes into Sunday's contest ranked third in the NE10 in save percentage (.839) and owns a 1.36 goals-against average.

Earlier this Season

The two teams met for their regular-season contest on Sept. 29 at Sodexo Field, when the Ravens dispatched the Greyhounds fairly easily, 3-0, to run their season-opening winning streak to eight games. Franklin Pierce got a first-half goal from Marques, and then second-half insurance markers from Marques and da Silva, as the Ravens outshot Assumption 17-8, including a 12-5 margin in shots on goal, on the way to the win. Kane made five saves to post the shutout.

Previously in the Postseason

The Ravens and Greyhounds have met five times previously in the postseason, with Franklin Pierce holding a 4-1-0 edge in those meetings. Most recently, the two met in an NE10 semifinal at Assumption in 2014. A pair of goals from Paige Radomski bettered a second-half penalty-kick goal from Talita Pereira, as the Greyhounds posted a 2-1 victory to advance to the final.

More than a decade ago, the teams locked horns in the NE10 final in back-to-back years in 2004 and 2005. Franklin Pierce earned its fifth and sixth consecutive NE10 titles in those games, with a 4-1 win in 2004 and a 1-0 victory in 2005, both at Sodexo Field.

Franklin Pierce and Assumption also met in the NCAA New England Regional in both 2004 and 2005 as well, also at Sodexo Field. The Ravens took both of those games as well, 5-2 in 2004, on the way to an appearance in the national quarterfinal, and 2-0 in 2005, as part of a trip to the national semifinal.

Headed to the Game?

If you plan on making the trip to Rindge on Sunday afternoon, directions to Franklin Pierce and maps of the Rindge campus can be found here: http://www.franklinpierce.edu/directions.htm

Ticket prices are set as follows: 

Adults - $6
Children/Seniors - $4
Students (with valid ID from NE10 institutions) - $1
The first 100 Franklin Pierce students (with valid ID) will be admitted free of charge, courtesy of the Department of Athletics

Per Conference policy, no additional complimentary admissions will be issued.

How to Follow Along 

If you prefer to follow the action from home, from work or from elsewhere, both live video and live stats will be available.

Live stats || Video

Up Next

The winner of Sunday's final will earn the NE10 title and the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Championship East Regional, which is slated to begin on Friday, Nov. 9. The bracket will be officially announced in a selection show on ncaa.com at 6:30 p.m. on Monday.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (https://www.fpuravens.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).