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Levins 12th goal of season new Ravens high-water mark; Nyzio earns 16th career win for FPU record

RINDGE, N.H. (November 10, 2010) – Junior forward Tia Levins (Manchester, Maine) scored the game-winning goal on Wednesday night, her 12th goal of the season to set a new program record, as the Franklin Pierce University field hockey team closed out the regular season with a 4-2 win over Southern Connecticut State in Northeast-10 Conference play at Sodexo Field. Junior goalkeeper Brittany Nyzio (Attleboro, Mass.) earned her 16th career win in front of the cage for the Ravens, to set a program record in that department as well.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 9-9 (6-4 Northeast-10), while Southern Connecticut State falls to 8-11 (6-4 Northeast-10).

Franklin Pierce, SCSU and Adelphi will all finish tied for fourth in the Northeast-10, with 6-4 records, and will occupy the fourth through sixth seeds in the upcoming Northeast-10 Championship. The teams also matchup evenly in all of the conference's tiebreaking criteria. As such, the fourth seed, and the home game in the quarterfinal round that comes with it, will be decided by a drawing of lots. When all is said and done, the fourth seed will host the fifth seed and the sixth seed will travel to third-seeded American International on Tuesday. Top seed Massachusetts Lowell and second-seeded Stonehill receive byes to the semifinal.

After the first 10 minutes of Wednesday night's game went without a goal, the Ravens gave themselves some breathing room in a hurry with three goals in a span of less than five minutes. First, senior midfielder Jordan Baillargeon (Westfield, Mass.) slid a pass from the right side to fellow senior midfielder Kayla Simeone (North Kingstown, R.I.) at the top of the circle. Simeone uncorked a shot which made its way through traffic and into the cage for her fifth goal of the season to open the scoring.

Simeone would strike against less than two minutes later, this time with a nice bit of hand-eye coordination in the center of the circle. Junior midfielder Kim Jaksina (Townsend, Mass.) wound up and fired a feed in the direction of the goal from the middle of the field, 20 yards in front of the circle. Simeone got her stick to it on the way by and deflected it home for her second goal of the game. It marked the second multiple-goal game of the season for Simeone, who scored a school-record four goals against Saint Anselm on Sept. 29.

Just less than three minutes after Simeone's second goal, Levins would set a new program record with her 12th goal of the season when she finished off a rebound amidst a skirmish in front of the net. A shade over five minutes after that, SCSU would cut the lead to 3-1 when freshman forward Sara Cebry stuffed her 10th of the season inside the left post off a feed from sophomore midfielder Erica Fisher from the right side.

The Ravens would reclaim the three-goal lead before halftime, when Jaksina picked up her 10th goal of the season, becoming the second Raven of the year, and fourth in program history, to hit double digits. Jaksina took the ball at the top of the circle off a penalty corner and laid it off to her right to sophomore back Megan Bird (Laconia, N.H.). Bird waited a moment then slipped a pass back to Jaksina who cut down the left side, went to the backhand and put the ball in the cage to make it 4-1.

The only goal of the second half would come for SCSU freshman midfielder Amanda DeChent, who scored her sixth goal of the season on an assist from sophomore forward Kristin Grecula to create the 4-2 final.

Nyzio stopped five of the seven shots on her cage to pick up the record-setting win (8-8) between the pipes for Franklin Pierce. Senior goalkeeper Lauren Zarrella made five saves against nine shots and took the loss (8-11) in front of the SCSU cage.

Both teams had opportunities offensively, as each finished with 14 shot attempts, while Franklin Pierce held a 9-7 edge in shots on goal. The Ravens may have asserted themselves more thoroughly in the circle during stretches of the game, on their way to an 11-6 advantage in penalty corners.

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).