Raven seniors named institutional scholar-athlete honorees and finalists for NE-10 Male and Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year

RINDGE, N.H. (May 25, 2009) - Franklin Pierce University senior student-athletes Brittany Ester (Toms River, N.J./Toms River East) and Coursen Schneider (Stony Point, N.Y./Avon Old Farms) have been named 2008-2009 Institutional Scholar-Athlete honorees by the Northeast-10 Conference. The pair is among 15 male and 15 female scholar-athletes from the Conference who are eligible for selection as the 2008-09 NE-10 Male and Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the Faculty Athletic Representative (FAR) Council. The winners will be announced Monday, June 1, at the NE-10 Awards Banquet in Mystic, Conn.

Ester, the 2008-2009 Richard Burns Female Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year at Franklin Pierce, is a psychology major who graduated last weekend with a 3.89 grade point average. A two-year starter for the Ravens nationally-ranked women's soccer team, Ester earned ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District I and NE-10 All-Academic honors while also being named to the All-NE-10 third team last fall. She is a member of the Chi Alpha Sigma National College Athlete Honor Society and earned a perfect 4.0 GPA for the fall 2008 semester to earn a spot on the Athletic Department Student-Athlete Honor Roll.

Ester helped Franklin Pierce to a share of the Northeast-10 regular season championship by posting a 0.99 goals against average (4^th NE-10) while sharing the Conference lead with eight shutouts. In 2007, Ester led the Ravens to their Division II record seventh appearance in the National Championship match as she set a Division II record by not yielding a goal in six NCAA Tournament matches. Her 0.39 goals against average for the season is the third-lowest single-season average in program history, while her 13 shutouts for the year was just one shy of the program record.

Ester finished her career tied for fourth in program history with 21 shutouts in just 41 career matches played over two seasons. She also ranks fourth all-time with 126 saves, fifth with a 0.70 goals against average and sixth with a .813 save percentage, posting a career record of 29-5-6.

Schneider graduated with a 3.70 grade point average at Franklin Pierce as a biology major. A captain on the Ravens ice hockey team, he was enrolled in the University's honors program and is a member of the Chi Alpha Sigma and Alpha Chi National Honor Societies. He has been named to the NE-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll three times and was also named to the Conference's All-Academic team twice.

Schneider helped lead Franklin Pierce to its highest Northeast-10 finish this winter as the Ravens hosted a postseason game for the first time. He saw action in 17 games, scoring six goals, including two on the power play, to go with three assists for nine points.

Schneider finished his career with 78 games played and ranks sixth in program history with 22 career goals, nine with 47 points and nine power play goals, while his 25 career assists are good for tenth all-time.  

Franklin Pierce has produced one NE-10 Scholar-Athlete of the Year since joining the Conference in 2000 when baseball All-American Bryan Duplissie earned the honor for 2005-2006.