Johansson scores twice; Demoner notches three points

BOXSCORE

RINDGE, N.H. (November 1, 2009) – The No. 22 Franklin Pierce University women’s soccer team opened play in the 2009 Northeast-10 Tournament on Sunday with a 3-0 quarterfinal victory over Saint Anselm at Sodexo Field in Rindge. The second-seeded Ravens ran their record to 15-3-1 on the season, while the No. 7 seed Hawks concluded their campaign with a 9-9-1 mark.

Franklin Pierce’s win, coupled with third-seeded UMass-Lowell’s win over Stonehill on Sunday, means the Ravens will host the River Hawks on Thursday afternoon in the conference semifinals at Sodexo Field.

Franklin Pierce dominated nearly every moment of the contest and piled up a 32-4 advantage in shots.

Senior midfielder Gabriela Demoner (Vitoria, Brazil), who was named the league’s player of the year on Friday (marking the second time in her career she won the award), got the offensive attack going for Franklin Pierce in the 44th minute as she scored her 28th goal of the season. She staked the Ravens to the 1-0 lead when she tracked down a loose ball at the top of the box, dribbled in and slipped a shot past the goalkeeper into the lower left corner of the net.

The Ravens out-shot Saint Anselm, 19-3, in the opening 45 minutes and kept most of the action in the Hawks zone.

Junior forward Angelika Johansson (Falkenberg, Sweden) totaled six shots in the game and scored on two of those in the second half to close out the win for the Ravens. The impressive two-goal, four-point performance came just two days after she was named to the Northeast-10 First-Team for the third-consecutive season.

The second-half goals from Johansson came just 61 seconds apart. She scored her first one at the 80:28 mark to make it 2-0 Franklin Pierce. The tally came after Saint Anselm had its best opportunity to score on the afternoon as it fired two-consecutive shots on goal. The last shot was cleared out of the zone as Mackenzie Bulych (Regina, Saskatchewan) launched the rebound past midfield. Johansson chased the loose ball down, dribbled in, and fired off a shot that beat the goalkeeper to the lower left corner. Bulych got credit for an assist on the play.

Johansson’s second goal came off a pass from Demoner in front of the net at the 81:29 mark. The assist gave Demoner three points on the afternoon.

Sophomore goalkeeper Jocelyn Leon (Lennox, Mass.) made two saves to earn the shutout victory and raise her record to 10-1-0 on the season.

The win also gave Franklin Pierce a 2-0 mark against Saint Anselm this season. The Ravens downed the Hawks, 1-0, back on Oct. 20 when Amanda Panaro (Rockland, Mass.) scored with just 24 seconds remaining to lift Franklin Pierce to victory.

For more information on Franklin Pierce women’s soccer, please visit the team’s page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.)