Makarainen earns first team honors for third-straight year, Foley and Giardina first time honorees with second team selections.

RINDGE, N.H. (October 18, 2006) - Three members of the Franklin Pierce women's soccer team earned spots on the Northeast-10 Conference All-Academic teams as selected by the Conference's 15 sports information directors. The announcement was made today by the NE-10 office.

Senior back Mia Makarainen (Espoo, Finland) earned first team All-Academic honors, while junior Jenna Giardina (Pittsfield, Mass./Taconic) and sophomore Ann Foley (Rockland, Mass./Rockland) were both named to the second team.

Makarainen, a three-time first team NE-10 All-Academic pick, has earned a 3.88 cumulative grade point average while majoring in management at the College. In addition to her three Conference All-Academic selections, Makarainen has collected ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District honors twice earning first team honors in 2005 and third team accolades in 2004. She is also a three-time NE-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll Gold Scholar and is a Chi Alpha Sigma National Student-Athlete Honor Society member.   

Makarainen is part of a Franklin Pierce defensive unit which ranks fourth in the Northeast-10 with a 0.72 team goals against average and third with seven shutouts. She has started six of the 11 matches she has played.

Makarainen was a second team All-New England pick in 2004 and has earned All-Northeast-10 Conference honors each of the last two years. She has played 76 of a possible 85 matches over her four-year career at the College and totaled six assists for six career points from the backline.           

Giardina, an NE-10 All-Academic selection for the first time, has earned a 3.32 cumulative grade point average while majoring in business at Franklin Pierce. She is second on the team with six goals (two match-winners) and five assists (9^th NE-10) for 17 points.

The NE-10's Player of the Week on October 10, Giardina's entire point total has come over the Ravens last nine matches during their 12-match winning streak. She notched a goal and three assists to lead her team to a key 5-1 victory over No. 21 UMass Lowell on Saturday.

Giardina has totaled seven goals and 12 assists for 26 points in 57 career matches over three seasons. She is also a member of the Franklin Pierce softball team, leading the Ravens in batting, runs scored and stolen bases last spring.           

Foley, also a first time NE-10 All-Academic honoree, has earned a 3.44 cumulative grade point average in accounting at the College. She was a Northeast-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll Bronze Scholar her freshman year.

Foley has totaled a goal and two assists for the Ravens this fall for four points. Her lone goal of the season was the match-winner at Bentley on October 11 and one of her two assists was on a match-winning goal, while the other was on an equalizing marker in a match the Ravens went on to win.

Foley started all 22 matches played as a true freshman in 2005 and ranked fourth on the team with 14 points on four goals (two match-winners) and six assists to help Franklin Pierce reach the NCAA Division II Final Four.

Franklin Pierce (13-2, 11-2 NE-10), ranked 11^th in this week's National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas Division II poll and second in the New England region, rounds out its regular season on Saturday at Southern Connecticut State University at 4 p.m. The Ravens will host a Northeast-10 Tournament quarterfinal on Tuesday, October 24 (time & opponent TBA).