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Posted: Nov 06, 2008

NE-10 SEMIFINAL: #13 Franklin Pierce Stuns Southern Connecticut, 2-1

NE-10 SEMIFINAL: #13 Franklin Pierce Stuns Southern Connecticut, 2-1
Box Score

Junior All-American Gabriela Demoner's 50th career goal was a memorable one as her lob from midfield capped a late Franklin Pierce rally and send the Ravens through to Sunday's NE-10 Championship. PHOTO BY Greg Wall.

Demoner's miracle lob caps second-seeded Ravens rally in final four minutes to slip past fourth-seeded Owls and advance to eighth NE-10 Championship match

Boxscore

RINDGE, N.H. (November 6, 2008) - Top-seeded Franklin Pierce University, ranked 13th in this week's National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas Division II poll, scored twice in the final four minutes of regulation to stun upset-minded and fourth-seeded Southern Connecticut State University, ranked seventh in this week's NSCAA/adidas East Regional poll, in semifinal round action of the 2008 Northeast-10 Conference women's soccer championship at Sodexo Field this evening.

Junior All-American Gabriela Demoner (Curitiba, Brazil) capped the Franklin Pierce comeback with a miraculous lobbed volley from the halfway line that crossed the goal line with just a second left in regulation. With the final seconds ticking away, Demoner collected a loose ball at the center of the pitch, wheeled and lobbed a high arcing volley that caught Southern Connecticut State sophomore goalkeeper Katie DiDio (Vernon, Conn./Rockville) helplessly off her line, bouncing at the back of the net to send the Ravens through to the championship match for the eighth time since joining the NE-10 prior to the 2000 season. The goal was the 50th of Demoner's three-year career at Franklin Pierce (8th all-time). 


Junior All-American Rachel Smith, the NE-10 Defensive Player of the Year, pushed forward and netted the equalizer with less than four minutes left in regulation. PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes.

Franklin Pierce (15-3-1, 11-2-1 NE-10) will face second-seeded The College of Saint Rose (16-3-1, 11-2-1 NE-10) for the NE-10 Championship on Sunday at Sodexo Field at 1 p.m. The contest will be a match up of the two teams which shared the NE-10 regular season championship. The Ravens earned the top seed as a result of their 1-0 regular season victory over the Golden Knights back on September 17 in Albany, N.Y.

Saint Rose advanced to the final with a 2-0 victory over sixth-seeded University of Massachusetts Lowell (8-5-5, 6-3-5 NE-10) in today's other semifinal in Albany. Southern Connecticut (12-5-2, 9-3-2 NE-10) must now await word of a possible NCAA Tournament bid on Monday.

Franklin Pierce also got a goal from junior All-American Rachel Smith (Chichester, N.H./Bible Baptist School (Pa.)), while senior Gina DellaRose (Prospect, Conn./Woodland Regional) scored for Southern Connecticut.

Franklin Pierce senior goalkeeper Brittany Ester (Toms River, N.J./Toms River East) made three saves to give the Ravens a shot at the comeback. DiDio made eight stops for Southern, who were out-shot by the Ravens, 14-5 for the match.

Demoner's miracle volley capped a nearly improbable comeback for Franklin Pierce as upset-minded Southern Connecticut appeared headed for its second NE-10 Championship match since joining the Conference in 2000. The Ravens pushed Smith, the NE-10 Defensive Player of the Year, to the front line in search of an equalizer and the move paid off as she took a touch pass from sophomore All-American Angelika Johansson (Falkenberg, Sweden), the NE-10 Player of the Year, and fired a low drive from the right channel past DiDio with 3:46 left in regulation.


Senior goalkeeper Brittany Ester conceded her first postseason goal in her two-year Franklin Pierce career, but made three saves to give the Ravens a shot at the comeback. PHOTO BY Richard Orr Sports Photography.

Southern opened the scoring in the 20th minute as DellaRose took a square ball from the left side by junior Katrina Cook (Westtown, N.Y./Minisink Valley), went in one-on-one with Ester and fired a low shot from just inside the 18 past the charging keeper. The goal snapped Franklin Pierce's string of nine-straight postseason shutouts (three in the NE-10 Tournament) and ended Ester's postseason shutout streak  at 861:19 (301:19 in the NE-10 Tournament).

Franklin Pierce nearly equalized just before halftime as freshman Amanda Panaro (Rockland, Mass./Rockland) fired a rocket from 24 yards out in the right channel that skimmed the top of the crossbar with 37-seconds left before the break.

Southern saw an excellent bid to take a two-goal lead go for chance 7:44 into the second half when Franklin Pierce sophomore back Kelly Weygand (Bridgewater, Mass./Bridgewater-Raynham) cleared a shot inside the six from Owls junior Danielle MacMurray (Griswold, Conn./Griswold) that was headed into an open net. Ester punched another MacMurray drive over the crossbar in the 64th minute.

Panaro (team-high five shots) nearly struck again in the 68th minute when her low-angle shot from the right side kicked off the left post. Two Ravens were in the neighborhood to knock the rebound into an open net, but could not come up with the ball.