WEST HAVEN, Conn. (October 19, 2021) – After trailing for the first time all season, the No. 1 nationally-ranked men's soccer team rallied back to earn a 2-1 victory over Northeast-10 rival University of New Haven at Kathy Zolad Stadium on Tuesday evening.

The Ravens remain undefeated with a perfect record of 14-0-0 (9-0-0 NE10), while the Chargers fall to 5-4-2 overall (2-4-2 NE10). FPU has outscored their opponents 42-5 so far this year.

The first half started out quiet before Pau Santanach of New Haven scored at the 32:32 mark to pull the Chargers ahead 1-0. Trailing for the first time this year, Franklin Pierce took a few shots that were on target. In the 43rd minute, freshman Braudilio Rodrigues (Lisbon, Portugal) brought the contest to a 1-1 draw after netting his seventh goal of the season. Graduate student Marc Lopez (Valencia, Spain) dribbled the ball into the box and passing it to Rodrigues. Rodrigues turned and booted the ball high into the center of the cage.

In the second half, graduate student Miguel Angel Pastor Gutierrez (Valencia, Spain) extended the Ravens' lead, 2-1, in the 53rd minute. Fellow classmate Alan Kehoe (Dublin, Ireland) took the ball along the far sideline, before crossing it to the top of the six-yard box, where Angel Pastor Gutierrez headed the ball past the Chargers' goalkeeper to the bottom left corner of the net.

Junior goalkeeper Kosta Maniatis (Montreal, Quebec) improved to 10-0-0 on the year after earning the win, having faced only one shot on goal and making no saves. Themis Kastoris of New Haven drew the loss, making eight saves on 10 shots faced.

The Crimson and Grey outshot the Falcons 15-3, as Angel Pastor Gutierrez led the team with a career best four shots, including three on target. The Ravens also had four corner kicks in the match.

Franklin Pierce heads to Easton, Mass., to take on the Stonehill College Skyhawks on Saturday, October 23. The contest is slated for an 11 a.m. start.