BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (October 12, 2021) – The No. 1 nationally-ranked Franklin Pierce University men's soccer team collected a 5-1 victory over Bridgeport on Tuesday night at Knights Field.

The Ravens remain undefeated, moving to a perfect 12-0-0 record on the season, while the Purple Knights fall to 3-6-2. FPU has outscored the opposition 35-3 so far this year.

Franklin Pierce jumped to an early 1-0 lead as graduate student Aaron Acevedo Artes (Valencia, Spain) took a shot from the middle of the box after controlling a pass from fellow classmate Jonas Cervera Anchel (Chiva, Spain) at the 7:40 mark. Just two minutes and 13 seconds later, the Ravens made it a 2-0 contest. Senior Marco Valero (Alicante, Spain) headed the ball up into the 18-yard box that allowed graduate student Pedro Juan Vicente (Elche, Spain) to corral it to shoot the ball to the top center of the net at the 9:53 mark.

At 19:12 of the first half, Valero booted the ball towards the cage that bounced off the post. Once off the post, the ball went off a Bridgeport defender and redirected its way to the back of the goal, extending the Ravens lead to 3-0 due to the Purple Knights' own goal. Graduate student Miguel Angel Pastor Gutierrez (Valencia, Spain) netted a goal in the 37th minute to cap of the first half scoring, heading the ball from a cross on the right side by freshman Bernardo Prego (Evora, Portugal) to make it 4-0.

In the second half, senior Aitor Aguado (Getxo, Spain) scored his first goal of the season at the 59:33 mark of the match. Off a Ravens corner kick, Bridgeport took possession of it to try to clear it out, but the Purple Knights turned it over within Aguado's reach, allowing him to fire the ball towards the goal to pull ahead 5-0. A late goal, though, scored in the 86th minute by Bridgeport's Jesse Clark off a rebound shot from Wariebi Jituboh kept Franklin Pierce from a shutout win.

Graduate goalkeeper Andrea Scapolo (Milan, Italy) earned the win, making one save on two shots faced and improving to 3-0-0 on the season. Bridgeport's Marcus Carrington drew the loss and made four saves on nine shots.  

The Crimson and Grey outshot the Purple Knights 20-6, with a combined eight shots coming from Angel Pastor Gutierrez and Cervera Anchel, as both recorded four shots apiece. The Ravens also registered 11 corner kicks on the night.   

The Ravens will continue Northeast-10 conference play when they welcome Bentley to Sodexo Field on Saturday, October 16, for a 4 p.m. match.