Ravens seek return to National Championship match for second time in three years

RINDGE, N.H. (November 29, 2007) – The Franklin Pierce University men’s soccer team seeks its second appearance in the National Championship match in three years in its quest to claim its first national title in program history this weekend at the NCAA Division II Championships, hosted by the University of West Florida and the City of Orange Beach, Ala.

Franklin Pierce (16-2-3, 11-0-2 NE-10) will face seventh-ranked Midwestern State University (18-3-1, 7-1-0 SSC) of Texas in the second of two men’s semifinal matches at the Orange Beach Sportsplex on Friday at 6 p.m. (EST). Both Franklin Pierce’s men’s and women’s teams have reached the Division II Final Four for the second time in three years. The women, making their NCAA II record 14th Final Four appearance, open play at the Orange Beach Sportsplex tomorrow against No. 2 Seattle Pacific University at 6 p.m. (EST).

Admission this weekend is $5 for adults and $3 for students with ID, with all-session passes (including the three NCAA Division II Women’s Soccer Tournament matches) available for $20 for adults and $10 for students with ID. All Franklin Pierce matches will be broadcast live on WFPU-LP 105.3 FM and simulcast via the Franklin Pierce athletics website at www.franklinpierce.edu/athletics. Sunday’s National Championship match will also be televised live on College Sports Television (CSTV) at 1 p.m. (EST).

While Friday will mark the first meeting all-time between Franklin Pierce and Midwestern State University, there is plenty of history between the two Universities. MSU has served as host of two of Franklin Pierce’s three most successful postseason runs. The University served as host of the 2005 NCAA Division II Men’s and Women’s Soccer Final Fours in which the Ravens advanced made its first National Championship match appearance in program history, falling to Fort Lewis (Colo.) University, 3-1. The Mustangs also hosted Franklin Pierce’s only appearance in the NAIA Nationals in 1987 before the Ravens made the move to Division II the following year.

Franklin Pierce still has five starters, and eight players overall, from its 2005 National Runner-up squad that strives to complete the job of capturing the first National Championship in program history this time around. The Ravens are the highest ranked team of the Final Four participants according to the NSCAA/adidas Division II poll and are one of two top regional seeds remaining in the field, along with Lincoln Memorial University from the Appalachian Region.

Franklin Pierce, winners of a program-record three-straight Northeast-10 Conference regular season championships, is making its fifth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance (13th overall). The Ravens advanced to the Final Four for the third time in program history with a 2-1 victory over defending National Champion and 6th-ranked Dowling College on November 17. The Ravens boast the top offense in the Northeast-10 (10th nationally), averaging 2.71 goals per match, and also lead the NE-10 (10th nationally) with a 0.69 team goals against average.

Franklin Pierce features the two-pronged offensive attack of grad student David Clifton (London, England) and sophomore Henning Comé (Göteborg, Sweden). Clifton, the Daktronics New England Region and NE-10 Player of the Year, leads the Conference (2nd nationally) in scoring with 51 points and 24 goals to go with three assists. His six match-winning goals lead the team and are good for second in the NE-10. Comé ranks second among NE-10 leaders to his teammate with his 36 points (23rd nationally) and 16 goals (18th) to go with four assists.

Clifton is on a tear for Franklin Pierce in the NCAA Tournament, having already broken the Division II record for goals and points in a tournament with his eight markers and 16 points through the Ravens first three matches. He has scored eight of the Ravens ten goals, including seven-straight, in the NCAA Tournament. Clifton’s nine career NCAA Tournament goals have also match the Division II career record set by former Raven All-American Christopher Joyce (2004 & 2005) and matched by Fort Lewis All-American John Cunliffe (2004-06).

Senior Mike Lima (Ludlow, Mass./Ludlow) leads Franklin Pierce with nine assists (2nd NE-10), followed closely by classmate and captain Michel Vitulano (Montreal, Quebec/College de Maisonneuve) with eight (6th NE-10). The pair is part of the top defensive unit in the NE-10, along with senior All-American Bisharra Ettienne (East Elmhurst, N.Y./Dominica State College), the two-time NE-10 Defensive Player of the Year, and freshman Adit Phataraprasit (Bangkok, Thailand), the Most Outstanding Defensive Player of the New England Regional.

Senior All-American James Thorpe (East Longmeadow, Mass./Bridgton Academy), the only four-time NE-10 Goalkeeper of the Year in Conference history, is the backbone of the Franklin Pierce defense. He leads the Conference with ten shutouts (47 career) and is second with a 0.69 GAA (10th nationally) and seventh with a .762 save percentage. Thorpe has played all 1,954:16 in Franklin Pierce’s goal this season and has set an NCAA Division II record for career minutes played by a goalkeeper with 8,191:11 over 91 career matches. He enters Friday’s match just 115:49 shy of the NCAA all-divisions record of 8,306 set by Steve McCullough, who played at UNC Ashville and Marquette from 1991-94.

Midwestern State is making its first NCAA Division II Final Four appearance, but it no stranger to the national stage, finishing as NAIA national runners-up on four occasions – most recently in 1995. The Mustangs, who are in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time, rank in the top five among NCAA Division II leaders in both scoring and defense. MSU’s 3.23 goals per match rank third in the country, while its 0.58 team goals against average is fourth-best and it ranks 13th nationally with 11 shutouts.

Senior forward Daniel Brown (Arlington, Texas/Martin), the Midwest Region and Southwest Soccer Conference Player of the Year, is the catalyst of the Midwestern State offensive attack with his 24 goals and five assists for 53 points, netting a team-best nine match-winning goals. No other Mustang has more than ten goals, but they are well balanced among the rest of the squad.

Sophomore Kyle Kmiec (Chapel Hill, Texas/Brenham) has dished a team-best nine assists to go with eight goals for 25 points, while junior Ahmad Ihmeidan (Fort Smith, Ark./Southside) has totaled eight goals (six match-winners) and four assists for 20 points. Sophomores Brian Martinez (Flower Mound, Texas/Flower Mound) and Tyler Murphy (Winfield, British Columbia/George Elliot) have chipped in seven and six assists, respectively.

Senior goalkeeper Jeremy Turner (Friendswood, Texas/Friendswood) is the backbone of the Mustangs staunch defense. He has played 1,500:54 over 20 matches (19 starts) this season and posted a 0.66 goals against average and .833 save percentage with five shutouts.

MSU reached its first Final Four after advancing past Far West Region champion Sonoma State University in a penalty shootout (5-4) after the two sides played to a 2-2 double-overtime draw on November 17. Junior goalkeeper Shawn Carr (Plano, Texas/Plano East) replaced Turner for the shootout and stopped the Seawolves’ fifth and sixth kicks to send his team through to the semifinals.

The winner will advance to the National Championship match and face the winner of Friday’s first semifinal between No. 16 Lincoln Memorial (19-3-1) and No. 18 Montevallo University (18-3-2) on Sunday at 2 p.m. (EST).


2007 NCAA Division II Men’s Soccer Championship

Hosted by University of West Florida

and the City of Orange Beach, Ala.
Orange Beach (Ala.) SportsPlex

All Times Eastern

Friday, November 30
Men’s Semifinals
#18 Montevallo University (18-3-2) vs. #16 Lincoln Memorial University (19-3-1), 3 p.m.
#7 Midwestern State University (19-3-0) vs. #4 Franklin Pierce (16-2-3), 6 p.m.

Sunday, December 2
Men’s Championship, 2 p.m.
Broadcast live on CSTV