Johansson also named East Region Player of the Year as four Ravens selected to Daktronics All- Region squads

RINDGE, N.H. (December 19, 2008) - Franklin Pierce University has placed three members of its women's soccer team on the Daktronics Division II All-America squads, while four earned Daktronics All-East Region honors as voted by sports information directors nationally as well as regionally. The teams are sponsored by Daktronics, Inc., an acknowledged world leader in scoring, timing and programmable display systems for virtually every sport at every level of competition.

Sophomore forward Angelika Johansson (Falkenberg, Sweden) highlights the selections for Franklin Pierce as she earned a spot on the Daktronics All-America first team while also being voted the Daktronics East Region Player of the Year. Junior midfielder Gabriela Demoner (Curitiba, Brazil) was selected to the All-America second team, while junior back Rachel Smith (Chichester, N.H./Bible Baptist School) earned third team All-America honors. The trio all were also selected to the Daktronics All-East Region first team, while sophomore back Kelly Weygand (Bridgewater, Mass./Bridgewater-Raynham) was picked to the second team to cap the program's four All-Region selections.

It marks the second-straight year Franklin Pierce has seen one of its players earn Daktronics East Region Player of the Year honors, with Demoner earning the award in 2007. This is the third year of the Daktronics Soccer All-America program.

Johansson, an NSCAA/adidas All-America selection in 2007, earns Daktronics All-America and Region Player of the Year honors for the first time. She started all 21 matches this season for Franklin Pierce and led all of Division II with 63 points and 29 goals to go with five assists. Her eight match-winning goals led the Northeast-10 Conference, while she also netted five hat tricks this season as part of seven multi-goal matches in all. Johansson matched a program record with five goals in the Ravens season-opening 9-1 win over Holy Family University, including two goals a program-record 32-seconds apart.

Johansson, also named the Northeast-10 Player of the Year this fall and a two-time first team All-Conference and All-Region selection, already ranks among program leaders with 90 career points (13^th) and 40 goals (11^th), including ten match-winning markers (9^th) in 37 career matches played. Johansson was selected to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America second team this fall, having earned a 3.97 cumulative grade point average as a mathematics major at the University, and she was also selected as the 2007 NE-10 Freshman of the Year. Her 29 goals scored this season are the eighth-highest single-season total in program history, while her eight match-winners are tied for the third-highest total in program history. 

Demoner, the 2007 Northeast-10 and Daktronics East Region Player of the Year, earns Daktronics All-America honors for the third-straight year with her selection to the second team. Also a three-time first team All-Region pick, Demoner also collected first team All-NE-10 honors for the third-straight season. She overcame some injuries early in the year to lead the NE-10 with 11 assists to go with seven goals (10^th NE-10) for 25 points (6^th) in 19 matches played (18 starts). Four of her seven goals this fall were match-winners and she assisted on another two game-winners.

Demoner, a two-time consensus first team All-American, ranks among Franklin Pierce career leaders with 50 goals (8^th) and 35 assists (11^th) for 135 points (9^th) in 63 matches played over three seasons. She is tied for sixth in program history with 13 career match-winning goals. Demoner earned Most Outstanding Offensive Player honors at the 2007 NCAA Division II Championships to conclude a season in which she ranked among national leaders with 68 points and 28 goals. She appeared in the "Faces in the Crowd" section of the October/November issue of SI Latino.

Smith, who earns third team Daktronics All-America honors for the second-straight season, was also named the Northeast-10 Defensive Player of the Year this fall in addition to her second-straight first team All-Region and All-NE-10 selections. She led a Franklin Pierce defensive unit which ranked third in the Northeast-10 with a 0.97 team goals against average and eight shutouts this season. The Ravens defense yielded just 0.70 goals against (2^nd NE-10) with a Conference-best seven shutouts during the NE-10 regular season. One of three Ravens who started all 21 matches this season, the co-captain also contributed three goals (one match-winner) for six points. Smith earned ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District I second team honors this fall, having also achieved a 3.76 cumulative grade point average while majoring in sports and recreation management at the University.

Smith, a Daktronics All-America selection as a sophomore and consensus All-Region pick, has been a key part of a Franklin Pierce defense which has allowed an average of just 0.72 goals per match over the last two seasons after converting from the forward position where she played as a freshman. She led a defense which didn't allow a goal in eight postseason matches in 2007, including a Division II record six shutouts in the NCAA Tournament. In 67 career matches played, Smith has totaled 12 goals (five match-winners) and four assists for 28 points. She is an NE-10 All-Academic team honoree and two-time NE-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll scholar, earning Gold Scholar status in 2007-08. 

Weygand earns a spot on the Daktronics All-Region second team for the second-straight year. She is also a key part of a Franklin Pierce defensive unit which ranked third in the Northeast-10 with a 0.97 team goals against average and eight shutouts this season. The Ravens defense yielded just 0.70 goals against (2^nd NE-10) with a Conference-best seven shutouts during the NE-10 regular season. Weygand also dished one assist this fall - that coming on the match-winning goal in the Ravens 3-0 victory over Southern New Hampshire University on October 15.

Weygand has started 39 of 43 matches she has played over her two seasons at Franklin Pierce. She has been a key part of a Franklin Pierce defense which has allowed an average of just 0.72 goals per match over the last two seasons, not allowing a goal in eight postseason contests in 2007, including a Division II record six shutouts in the NCAA Tournament. Weygand has contributed a goal (match-winner) and seven assists for nine career points.   

Franklin Pierce (15-4-2, 11-2-1 NE-10), ranked 20^th in the final postseason 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.