ERIE, Pa. (December 7, 2019) – The no. 18 nationally-ranked Franklin Pierce University men's soccer 2019 campaign came to an end in the NCAA Division II Elite 8 as they suffered a 2-0 defeat to no. 10 nationally-ranked Charleston (W. Va.) Saturday afternoon at the McConnell Family Stadium in Erie, Pa.

The Golden Eagles (20-2-1) will advance to the National Semifinals (Final Four) and play the winner of the Wingate University/Lynn University bout at Highmark Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pa. Thursday, December 12th as they look for their second national championship in three years. Pierce (15-4-2) sees their season end as they are still searching for their first trip back to the Final Four since 2011.

Making the start cage, senior Jadel Poon-Lewis (Diego Martin, Trinidad, and Tobago) made four saves including some impressive stops as he completed his final season with a 7-1-1 record. Charleston netminder Alvaro Dean turned away three shots in the victory as remained undefeated (15-0-1).

The contest was a physical battle between two heavyweights. There were a total of 32 fouls called, nine yellow card cautions and one red card ejection. Pierce hung in there with only 10 guys playing 71 minutes down a man. They produced an even shot total (4-to-4) and corner kick chances (3-to-3) in the first half, but Charleston pulled away from Pierce late outshooting them 6-to-1 in the second stanza and having four corner kicks to the Ravens one.

FPU's best two chances came in the 26th minute. Junior forward Antonio Ferreira (Madrid, Spain) lined a shot attempt to the right of the cage that Dean sprawled out to make a big-time save to keep the game scoreless. Seconds later, junior midfielder Josep Silvestre Pitarch (Eslida, Spain) grabbed a loose ball and put a shot on net that was again turned away by Dean. Pierce also had a few counterattack opportunities that were swarmed and footed out of danger by the Charleston defense.

In the 61st minute, Poon-Lewis kept the match deadlocked 0-0 when he dove to his left and fully extended to rob Ploutarcho Alonefti of a marker. Eight minutes later, Ettore Ballestracci found Freddy Tracey for the opening score, a chip from just inside the box into the lower part of the net. Four minutes passed until Christos Charalambous lofted a corner from the right side into the box that was headed home by Williams N'Dah for the insurance tally.

Pierce's only shot attempt in the second half came in the 84th minute, a junior defender Cristobal Andreu (Castellón de la Plana, Spain) rope that was quickly corralled by Dean.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://fpuravens.com). 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). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (https://shopfpuravens.com). You can also follow the men's soccer team on Twitter (https://twitter.com/fpumsoccer), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/fpumsoccer/) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/fpumsoccer/).