2004 NE-10 TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP Third-seeded UMass Lowell Tops #4 Franklin Pierce on PK’s
River Hawks win second-straight title on penalties after sides play to 0-0 draw
LOWELL, Mass. (November 7, 2004) - Third-seeded UMass Lowell, ranked No. 19 in this week's National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas Division II poll, captured its second-straight Northeast-10 Conference men's soccer championship by outlasting fourth-seeded Franklin Pierce in a penalty kick shootout, 6-5, after the two sides played through 110 scoreless minutes at Cushing Field this afternoon.
UMass Lowell freshman Jonathan Melo (Lowell, Mass./Lowell) ended the match in the ninth round of the penalty shootout as he converted his attempt after Franklin Pierce sophomore back Andre Elphic (Queens, N.Y./Springfield Gardens) saw his attempt corralled by River Hawk junior goalkeeper Bobby Ritter (North Andover, Mass./North Andover).
Ritter was named the Tournament MVP for his efforts as he yielded just one goal in the River Hawks three tournament victories and came up huge today with three saves in the match and three more in the shootout.
Ritter opened the shootout with a save on an attempt by Franklin Pierce grad student Tom McNeil (Paisley, Scotland). The teams then converted the rest of their kicks until River Hawks senior Jason Paige (Woburn, Mass./Woburn) missed the target entirely in their fifth attempt, which would have clinched the title.
Franklin Pierce freshman goalkeeper James Thorpe (East Longmeadow, Mass./Bridgton Academy) came up big in the next two sudden death rounds with saves after his teammates missed on attempts. Both sides converted on their attempts in the eighth round before the decisive ninth round.
Thorpe made two saves in adding to his program record shutout total with 13 for the season. He also extended his scoreless minute streak to 449:30, which trails only his own 518:38 streak earlier this season in program history. Thorpe also lowered his goals against average to 0.64 - 0.37 lower than the previous low of 1.01 set by Steve Quinones in 1988.
Franklin Pierce (15-5-1, 10-3 NE-10), which will likely miss out on a second-straight and tenth NCAA Tournament berth with today's draw, has posted a program-record 15 shutouts this season and shattered the program record with just 13 goals allowed. The Ravens bettered the previous low of 19 set in 1995.
Franklin Pierce out-shot UMass Lowell, 7-0, in the opening half and 10-4 overall for the match, including 2-0 in the two ten-minute overtime periods. Ritter made two good saves on shot from McNeil, in the 19th minute, and sophomore Jason Grier (Norwell, Mass./Norwell), in the 37th.
The River Hawks out-shot the Ravens, 4-1, in an up-and-down second half. UML tested Thorpe twice in the stanza, including a chance by Paige in the 87th minute.
UMass Lowell (15-2-2, 11-2 NE-10) is in good position to receive a second-straight NCAA Tournament berth when bids are announced late Monday afternoon.