Second team Academic All-America selection also heads list of four Academic All-District honorees for Franklin Pierce

RINDGE, N.H. (November 20, 2008) - Franklin Pierce University sophomore forward Angelika Johansson (Falkenberg, Sweden) has earned a spot on the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America women's soccer second team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America committee. Johansson also heads a list of four Ravens to earn ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District I honors by CoSIDA members in New England and New York.

Johansson is the eighth student-athlete in program history to earn Academic All-America honors with her selection to the second team and the first since Mia Makarainen collected third team honors in 2006. Johansson, selected to the Academic All-District I first team, heads a program-record matching list of four Academic All-District honorees this fall. Junior back Rachel Smith (Chichester, N.H./Bible Baptist School (Pa.)) was selected to the second team, while seniors Brittany Ester (Toms River, N.J./Toms River East) and Melissa Hagmire (Livonia, N.Y./Livonia) earned third team honors. The selections mark the eighth-straight year the Franklin Pierce women's soccer team has had an Academic All-District I honoree and runs the program's all-time list of All-District picks to 26 in program history.

Johansson, who earns Academic All-District and All-America honors for the first time, has achieved a 3.97 cumulative grade point average while majoring in mathematics at Franklin Pierce. She is a Northeast-10 Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll Gold Scholar and has earned a spot on the Franklin Pierce Athletics Department Honor Roll each of the two semesters she has been enrolled.

Johansson has earned Daktronics East Region and Northeast-10 Player of the Year honors this fall as she leads Division II with 63 points and 29 goals to go with five assists in 21 starts. She also leads the Northeast-10 with eight match-winning goals and has posted five hat tricks this season as part of seven multi-goal performances this past fall. Johansson matched a program record with five goals in the Ravens 9-1 season-opening win over Holy Family University, including two goals a program-record 32-seconds apart.

Johansson earned second team All-America honors following a freshman season in which she posted 11 goals and five assists for 27 points in 16 matches before missing Franklin Pierce's entire postseason run with a season-ending injury. She also earned NE-10 Freshman of the Year, first team All-Region and All-Conference honors. Johansson ranks 13^th in program history with 90 career points and 11^th with 40 career goals, while her ten match-winning goals are good for ninth on the program's all-time career list in 37 career matches played. 

Smith earns Academic All-District honors for the first time, having achieved a 3.76 cumulative grade point average while majoring in sports & recreation management at Franklin Pierce. She has been named to the Northast-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll each of her first two years at the University, earning silver scholar honors in 2006-07 and gold scholar status in 2007-08., and has earned a spot on the Franklin Pierce Athletic Department Honor roll on two occasions.

Smith started all 21 of Franklin Pierce's matches this season and anchored a Ravens defensive unit which ranks third in the NE-10 with a 0.97 team goals against average and eight shutouts. She has also contributed three goals (one match-winner) for six points. Smith was named the Northeast-10 Defensive Player of the Year and earned All-Conference honors for the second-straight season. She was also selected to the Daktronics All-Region first team for the second-straight year.

Smith, a Daktronics All-American in 2007, has posted 12 goals and four assists for 28 points in 67 career matches played. Five of her 12 career goals are match-winners. In two seasons on the Ravens backline, she has keyed a defensive effort which has allowed just 33 goals in 46 matches (0.72/match) with 16 shutouts - including all eight postseason matches (six NCAA Tournament) in 2007.

Ester earns Academic All-District honors for the first time, having achieved a 3.84 cumulative grade point average while majoring in psychology at Franklin Pierce. She is a Northeast-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll Gold Scholar and earned a spot on the Franklin Pierce Athletics Department Honor Roll each of her two semesters at the University since transferring from Grossmont College in California.

Ester, a third team All-Northeast-10 selection this season, started all 21 matches for Franklin Pierce in goal this fall. She leads the NE-10 with eight shutouts to go with a 0.99 goals against average (4^th NE-10) and .727 save percentage in 1,917:57 in goal.

In 41 career matches (3,748:55) at Franklin Pierce in her two seasons with the program, Ester has posted a 0.70 goals against average, which ranks fifth in program history, while her .813 save percentage ranks sixth and her 21 career shutouts and 126 saves rank fourth all-time. She posted a 29-5-6 record and set an NCAA Division II Tournament record by posting a 0.00 goals against average in six tournament matches in 2007 as she backboned a Ravens defense which didn't concede a goal in eight postseason contests overall. 

Hagmire earns Academic All-District honors for the first time, having achieved a 3.55 cumulative grade point average as a management major at Franklin Pierce. She is a two-time Northeast-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll Bronze Scholar earning a spot on the Franklin Pierce Athletics Department Honor Roll twice. Hagmire was also a Northeast-10 All-Academic first team honoree.

Hagmire appeared in all 21 matches for Franklin Pierce this season, starting 20, and played a key role on a defensive unit which ranks third in the NE-10 with a 0.97 team goals against average and eight shutouts. She also dished one assist for a point. The assist came on the opening goal of a 2-1 victory at Flagler College in September.

Hagmire has started 53 of the 70 matches in which she has played over her four year career at Franklin Pierce. She has played a role in a defensive unit which has allowed an average of just 0.74 goals per match over the last four seasons with 44 shutouts. Hagmire started each of the Ravens eight postseason matches without conceding a goal - including an NCAA Tournament record six shutouts. She also finished with a goal and two assists for four career points.

Franklin Pierce (15-4-2, 11-2-1 NE-10), ranked 10^th in the final regular season National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas Division II poll, captured a share of its sixth Northeast-10 regular season championship this fall and made an NCAA Division II record 17^th-straight tournament appearance, reaching the second round.