RINDGE, N.H. (September 4, 2021) – The No. 5 nationally-ranked Franklin Pierce University men's soccer program controlled the tempo of Saturday evening's game and never looked back as they defeated the Queens College Knights of New York 3-0 at Sodexo Field.

In the first few minutes of the first half, it seemed that the Knights were wearing out the Ravens with their relentless pressure, keeping FPU out of their zone. The Crimson and Grey gained the momentum and began their attack by creating multiple chances, causing Queens' goalkeeper Dario Cruz to make a few early saves.

The Ravens outshot the Knights 11-3, while recording eight corner kicks in the contest. Junior goalkeeper Kosta Maniatis (Montreal, Quebec) started in the net for Franklin Pierce, earning his second shutout in back-to-back games.

At the 20:25 mark of the game, freshman midfielder Vicente Valor Martinez (San Juan, Spain) booted a shot into the right corner of the net off a turnover by the Knights defense in their own zone to make it a 1-0 Ravens lead in the first half, marking Martinez's first goal of the season.

Early in the second half, the Ravens attack continued to wear down Queens (N.Y.). FPU applied pressure to the Knights right away from the opening kick of the second half and at the 47:56 mark of the game, graduate student Antonio Santos Ferreira (Madrid, Spain) netted his first goal of the season from an assist by freshman forward Braudilio Rodrigues (Lisbon, Portugal) to increase their lead, 2-0.

With the Crimson and Grey continuing to rack up shots on goal against the Knights in the second half, Rodrigues scored the final goal of the evening on a breakaway, expanding the lead to 3-0 at the 63:14 mark of the game.

After scoring a goal and tallying an assist, Rodrigues leads the team with three goals and seven points.  

Franklin Pierce is now 2-0-0 on the season and will be back in action on Saturday, September 11, on the road at Felician in Rutherford, N.J., at 3:30 p.m.