RINDGE, N.H. (November 10, 2021) -- Things looked bleak for the No. 4 nationally ranked Franklin Pierce University men's soccer team on Wednesday evening at Sodexo Field, in the semifinal round of the Northeast-10 Conference Championship. Down a goal and with just 13:13 to play, Braudilio Rodrigues (Lisbon, Portugal) sailed a penalty kick over the top of the goal. The freshman would redeem himself and then some though, as he later found the 84^th-minute equalizer and the 96^th-minute game-winner, as the top-seeded Ravens stunned fourth-seeded Southern New Hampshire, 2-1 (OT).

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 18-1-0 and will host either American International or Saint Rose in the NE10 title game on Saturday at 6 p.m. With the loss, SNHU falls to 11-6-1.

Franklin Pierce dominated the possession battle throughout, to the tune of advantages of 18-3 in shot attempts, 7-1 in shots on goal and 9-1 in corner kicks.

Instead though, the only goal on the board for much of the afternoon was a 28^th-minute strike off a corner kick for the visiting Penmen. Sophomore Luca Shubitidze sent the aerial service in from the right-wing corner, and the ball fell near the penalty spot, where junior Liam Evans was stationed. Evans met the ball with a thundering, right-footed volley, which he blasted into the top-left corner for his first goal of the season.

Franklin Pierce had a golden opportunity to equalize in the 77^th minute, after a handball in the box resulted in a penalty kick. The Ravens turned to their leading goal scorer, but Rodrigues put the ball over the top of the net, and SNHU continued to cling to a 1-0 lead.

Eventually though, the Penmen levee would burst, in the 84^th minute, with just 6:21 to play. On the left side of the midfield, NE10 Player of the Year Carlos Ferrando Felis (Tavernes de la Valldigna, Spain) laid the ball off for Rodrigues, some 25 yards from goal. Rodrigues feinted outside on his defender, stepped inside and powered a shot off of SNHU senior goalkeeper Jackson Rivers and into the left side of the net for his ninth goal of the campaign.

The late equalizer sent the game to overtime, where Rodrigues delivered again, early in the 96^th minute, to see the Ravens through to the final. About 30 yards from goal on the right side, freshman Vincente Valor Martinez swung a cross into the box, curling toward the left post. Graduate student Antonio Santos Ferreira (Madrid, Spain) got a leg to the ball as it came down, and deflected it to the left, between a pair of SNHU defenders, and straight to Rodrigues. Rodrigues bodied the ball down with his midsection and then drilled it into the lower-right corner of the net from six yards out to touch off the celebration.

Junior Kosta Maniatis (Montreal, Quebec) was beaten on the only shot on his goal, but picked up the win (15-1-0) anyway for Franklin Pierce. Rivers (9-4-0) stopped five of seven shots at the other end for SNHU.