Men's Soccer Advances to NE-10 Semifinals with Shootout Win Over Assumption
Ravens will face Le Moyne on Wednesday
BOXSCORE
RINDGE, N.H. (November 1, 2009) – The
Franklin Pierce University men’s soccer team played
Assumption to a scoreless draw on Sunday night, but advanced to the
semifinals of the 2009 Northeast-10 Tournament via its 4-2 shootout
victory at Sodexo Field. The Ravens record went to 12-3-3 on the
year, while the Greyhounds concluded their season with a 9-6-3
mark.
After a scoreless 110:00 of soccer, it came down to penalty kicks
to decide who would win the quarterfinal match. Steve Blaisdell and
Tom Carroll each scored on their respective kicks for Assumption
against Franklin Pierce goalkeeper Vinny Papageorgiou
(Wilmington, Mass.).
Tom Reilly (Wallasey, England) was stoned on his
first attempt for Franklin Pierce, but it didn’t matter as
the next four shooters for the Ravens buried the ball in the back
of the goal to pull out the win.
Diego Tabares (Seekonk, Mass.), Victor Goncalves (Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil), Paul Latif (Newcastle, England) and
finally Frantz Francois (West Palm Beach, Fla.)
all scored with high shots to push third-seeded Franklin Pierce
into the semis at No. 2 Le Moyne on Wednesday afternoon in
Syracuse, N.Y.
Papageorgiou, who allowed the goals on the first two shots he
faced in the shootout, made the two critical saves after that to
earn the extra-session victory. Papageorgiou stoned Pat Lindberg,
who tried to slip it into the lower right corner, and then made a
diving save on goalkeeper Brandan Sullivan, who tried to blast it
into the middle left side of the goal.
Papageorgiou was solid in goal as he made three saves. His record
went 10-2-2 on the season with the tie. Sullivan made five saves as
his record went to 8-5-3. His best save of the contest came early
in the first half when Tabares slipped through the Assumption
defense and fired a point-blank shot at the net. Sullivan dove low
and made the rolling save to preserve the scoreless tie at the
time.
The match did not see many multiple-scoring changes in front of
the goal. Both defenses were strong at limiting shots. Franklin
Pierce held an 18-6 advantage in shots, including allowing just one
in the two overtime sessions. Goncalves had five of Franklin
Pierce’s 18 shot attempts, which was the most in the contest
for either side.
For more information on Franklin Pierce men’s soccer, please
visit the team’s page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.)