RINDGE, N.H. (November 13, 2021) - For the first time since 2011, the Franklin Pierce University men's soccer team stands atop the Northeast-10 Conference. The No. 4 nationally ranked Ravens claimed the fourth NE10 crown in program history (2006, 2010, 2011) on Saturday night at Sodexo Field, with a 2-1 win over No. 23 American International, on the strength of a pair of goals just 2:56 apart early in the second half.

With the win, the top-seeded Ravens improve to 19-1-0 and have won five straight, while AIC falls to 14-4-1, with two of the four losses coming at Franklin Pierce. The win also gave Franklin Pierce the NE10's automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA Championship, while AIC will await word on a potential at-large bid. The NCAA will announce the tournament field on Monday at 6:30 p.m.

After a lightning delay of nearly an hour at the start, the first half was mostly quiet, with both teams finding their legs and feeling each other out. Graduate student Jonas Cervera Anchel (Chiva, Spain) nearly broke the deadlock for the Ravens in the 27^th minute, as his shot would be the first to pose a test to either keeper and forced a diving save out of AIC graduate student Ioannis Iatroudis. That half would end goalless, with shots showing 9-2 (4-1 on target) in favor of the Ravens.

The second half began with both sides showing more promise moving forward. The Ravens came out swinging and forced a pair of saves out of Iatroudis.

The deadlock would finally break in the 53^rd minute. Freshman Braudilio Rodrigues (Lisbon, Portugal) would pick his defender's pocket on the touchline, cut inside, and curl the ball into the top right corner, with a shot which left the keeper glued to his spot. Just under three minutes later, in the 56^th, graduate student Carlos Ferrando Felis (Tavernes de la Valldigna, Spain) would add an insurance marker for the Ravens, as he headed home a free kick from freshman Vicente Valor Martinez (San Juan, Spain).

American International would earn one back through Mathis Pilon St. Louis in the 61^st minute, to cap off a stretch of three goals in a span of 7:55. The freshman latched onto a pass from graduate student Dirk Doppen and beat junior Kosta Maniatis (Montreal, Quebec) with power from inside the 18-yard box.

The run of goals seemed poised to continue, but Franklin Pierce settled the game down and began to control possession, while bleeding precious time off the clock. A 70^th-minute shot from freshman Love Lindborg, point blank and right down the middle, would be the Yellow Jackets' final threat of the evening.

Maniatis (16-1-0) finished with three saves against four shots to pick up the win for Franklin Pierce. Iatroudis (1-1-0) made five stops against seven shots and suffered the loss in front of the AIC net.