Top-seeded Ravens seek record eighth NE-10 tournament championship as second-seeded Golden Knights defend title

RINDGE, N.H. (November 7, 2008) - Regular season Northeast-10 Conference co-champions Franklin Pierce University, ranked 13^th in this week's National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas Division II poll, and No. 21-ranked The College of Saint Rose will square off for the 2008 Northeast-10 Conference women's soccer championship at Sodexo Field on Sunday, November 9, at 1 p.m.

Franklin Pierce (15-3-1, 11-2-1 NE-10) will be attempting to capture their eighth NE-10 Tournament Championship, while defending tournament champions Saint Rose (16-3-1, 11-2-1 NE-10) looks to claim their second title. The winner also earns the Northeast-10's automatic bid to next week's NCAA Division II Tournament. The Ravens won a record seven-straight championships from 2000 (first year in NE-10) through 2006 before Saint Rose won the crown with a 2-1 win over Bryant University last fall.

Admission for Sunday's match will be $6.00 for adults and $3.00 for students, children and senior citizens. The match will also be broadcast live on WFPC-LP 105.3 FM and also streamed over the internet at athletics.franklinpierce.edu. 

Franklin Pierce advanced to its eighth championship appearance with miraculous 2-1 victory over fourth-seeded Southern Connecticut State University last evening. The Ravens rallied from a goal down with two goals in the final 3:46 of regulation, capped by a miracle lobbed volley from the halfway line by junior All-American Gabriela Demoner (Curitiba, Brazil) that crossed the goal line with just one second left on the clock. Junior All-America back Rachel Smith (Chichester, N.H./Bible Baptist School (Pa.)) netted the equalizer in the 87^th minute.

Saint Rose advanced with a 2-0 win over sixth-seeded University of Massachusetts Lowell in Albany, N.Y., earlier yesterday. The Golden Knights got goals midway through each half from juniors Jordan Bowers (Colorado Springs, Colo./Doherty) and Lizzie Shegda (Yardley, Pa./Conwell-Egan Catholic). Junior goalkeeper Shannon Murphy (Charlton, Mass./St. Peter Marian) made four saves (all second half) to record her 12^th shutout of the season.

Franklin Pierce enters Thursday's match winners of a season-high eight straight games and ten of 12 after Thursday's semifinal win. The Ravens have played well defensively of late, yielding just two goals over their last seven matches and only seven over their last 15 (0.47/match) after conceding nine goals in their opening four contests. Franklin Pierce leads the NE-10 in scoring with 2.79 goals per match (20^th nationally), while ranking third with a 0.82 team goals against average.

Sophomore All-American Angelika Johansson (Falkenberg, Sweden), the Northeast-10 Player of the Year and a first team All-Conference pick for the second time, leads all of Division II in scoring with 61 points and goals with 28 to go with five assists and is one of just three Franklin Pierce players to start all 19 matches this season to date. The NE-10 leader with eight match-winning goals, Johansson is appearing in the postseason for the first time after missing the Ravens entire postseason run in 2007 with an injury late in the year. She marked her debut with a four-goal outburst in the Ravens 5-0 quarterfinal win over Saint Anselm.

Demoner, who netted her 50^th career goal with Thursday's match-winner, is second on the team with 24 points (6^th NE-10) and seven goals (7^th) to go with a Conference-high ten assists (14^th nationally). She has also netted four match-winning goals. Senior Kristen Cilley (Belchertown, Mass./Belchertown) has chipped in two goals and six assists (5^th NE-10) for ten points.

Senior goalkeeper Brittany Ester (Toms River, N.J./Toms River East) has seen the majority of time in goal this season for Franklin Pierce and posted a 0.84 goals against average (3^rd NE-10) and .758 save percentage (10^th) with a Conference-best eight shutouts in 1,7127:57 over 19 starts. Ester, who has now conceded just one goal in ten career postseason matches at Franklin Pierce (0.10 GAA), saw her postseason shutout streak snapped at 861:19 (301:19 in the NE-10 Tournament) with Southern's goal in the first half on Thursday. 

Saint Rose enters Sunday's match winners of 11-straight after Thursday's semifinal win over UMass Lowell. The Golden Knights are ranked second in the NE-10 with a 0.69 team goals against average (NE-10 best 12 shutouts) and third in scoring with 2.20 goals per match.

Junior Shannon Murphy (Charlton, Mass./St. Peter Marian) has seen the majority of minutes in goal for Saint Rose and leads the NE-10 with a 0.53 goals against average to go with a .837 save percentage (2^nd) and six shutouts (4^th) in 1,350:00 in 19 matches.

Sophomore Jazmine Farrell (Raritan, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) and freshman Christina Cuffari (Brick, N.J./Brick Memorial) share the team lead with 15 points and six goals to go with three assists. Senior Kailey Egbert (Camp Hill, Pa./Trinity) has added five goals and team-high four assists for 14 points. Bowers has added five goals, a team-best four of which were match-winners (4^th NE-10).

Sunday marks the 19^th meeting all-time between these two programs, the sixth in postseason play and second in the NE-10 Tournament. Franklin Pierce holds a 14-1-3 advantage in the all-time series, including 5-0-0 mark in the postseason - 1-0-0 in the NE-10 Tournament. The Ravens are 8-0-2 all-time against Saint Rose at home, including a 3-0-2 clip on Sodexo Field.

Sunday marks the first time these two programs have met for the NE-10 Championship. The only other previous NE-10 Tournament match up came in the semifinal round of the 2004 event in which Franklin Pierce claimed a 5-0 victory at Sodexo Field. All-American Laura Hislop scored two goals for the Ravens.

Franklin Pierce posted a 1-0 victory over Saint Rose in the regula r season meeting on September 17 in Albany, N.Y. The win provided the Ravens with the vital head-to-head tiebreaker between the two who would become co-regular season champions in the NE-10. Demoner scored the lone goal of the match in the 75^th minute. Ester made five saves to preserve the Ravens first shutout of the season, while Murphy finished with four stops for Saint Rose.

2008 Northeast-10 Conference
Women's Soccer Championships

Sunday, November 2
Quarterfinal Round
#1 Franklin Pierce 5, #8 Saint Anselm 0
#2 Saint Rose 1, #7 New Haven 0
#6 UMass Lowell 1, #3 Merrimack 0 (OT)
#4 Southern Connecticut 2, #5 Southern New Hampshire 0 

Thursday, November 6
Semifinal Round
#2 Saint Rose 2, #6 UMass Lowell 0
#1 Franklin Pierce 2, #4 Southern Connecticut State 1

Sunday, November 9
Championship
#2 Saint Rose (16-3-1, 11-2-1 NE-10) at #1 Franklin Pierce (15-3-1, 11-2-1 NE-10), 1 p.m.