Second-seeded Ravens to face third-seeded UMass-Lowell

RINDGE, N.H. (November 3, 2009) – The 22nd-ranked Franklin Pierce University women’s soccer team will play host to UMass-Lowell on Thursday in the semifinals of the 2009 Northeast-10 Tournament. The match will begin at 4 p.m. in the friendly-confines of Sodexo Field on the Rindge campus. The Ravens are the second seed in the conference tournament, while the River Hawks are the third seed. Franklin Pierce will be looking to avenge its 3-1 regular season loss at UMass-Lowell back on Sept. 1.

Ticket prices for the post-season tournament are $5 for adults and $3 for senior citizens, children and students of the opposing schools. Franklin Pierce students can attend the game for FREE by presenting their student ID at the gate.

A vocal crowd voiced their support for the Ravens during Sunday’s 3-0 win over Saint Anselm in the quarterfinals. Those same fans, along with everyone else in the Franklin Pierce community are invited to come out and support the Ravens on their march towards the Northeast-10 championship.

The match will also be broadcast live on WFPC-LP 105.3 FM and also streamed live over the internet at athletics.franklinpierce.edu.

The women’s team is led by a pair of conference players of the year in senior midfielder Gabriela Demoner (Vitoria, Brazil) and senior back Rachel Smith (Chichester, N.H.). Demoner was named the Northeast-10 Player of the Year last Friday for the second time in her career. She is one of just five players in program history to be named a conference player of the year on multiple occasions. Smith was named the league’s co-defensive player of the year on Friday as well, marking the second-straight year she has garnered the award.

Several other players were recognized by the conference on Friday, including junior forward Angelika Johansson (Falkenberg, Sweden), who was named to the Northeast-10 First-Team for the third-consecutive season. Junior forward Shona Franklin (Birmingham, England) and sophomore midfielder Amanda Panaro (Rockland, Mass.) were named to the Northeast-10 Second-Team, while freshman back Julie Foster (Dennis, Mass.) was named to the league’s All-Rookie Team.

All of those players had a big hand in Franklin Pierce’s win over Saint Anselm in the quarterfinals. Demoner scored the game’s first goal, while Johansson scored twice in a 61-second span in the second half to account for all the scoring that Franklin Pierce needed to earn the win. Johansson had four points on the day, while Demoner also added an assist to compile a three-point afternoon.

Franklin and Panaro played aggressively in the offensive zone for the Ravens as they helped the squad compile a 32-4 advantage in shots.

The four shots allowed by Franklin Pierce told the story of the dominant play by the defenders, including Smith and Foster. Both players did a great job of cutting off potential scoring plays by Saint Anselm and moving the ball up field for the Ravens attackers to get into scoring position.

As noted earlier, Franklin Pierce and Lowell will be meeting for the second time this season. In Lowell’s win back in September, Franklin Pierce jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on the strength of a Demoner goal in the 28th minute. However, Lowell scored three times in the second half, including two goals from Brianne Bozzella, to pull out the 3-1 victory. Lowell goalkeeper Jamie Gillis, who was named the league’s goalkeeper of the year on Friday, made eight saves in the contest to earn the win in net.

UMass-Lowell advanced to the semis of the NE-10 Tournament with a 1-0 win at home over Stonehill on Sunday. Kelly Soper scored the lone goal of the game for the River Hawks.

The winner of this Thursday’s semifinal contest will advance to the Northeast-10 Championship game, which will be held on Sunday at the site of the highest remaining seed in the tournament. Thursday’s other semifinal match will pit top-seeded Saint Rose against fourth-seed Merrimack.

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

2009 Northeast-10 Women’s Soccer Tournament Schedule
Sunday, November 1
Quarterfinals - at Higher Seed
Match 1: #1 Saint Rose 1, #8 New Haven 0
Match 2: #2 Franklin Pierce 3, #7 Saint Anselm 0
Match 3: #3 UMass-Lowell 1, #6 Stonehill 0
Match 4: #4 Merrimack 0, #5 Adelphi 0 (MER adv. 5-4 on PKS)

Thursday, November 5
Semifinals - at Higher Seed
Match 5: #4 Merrimack at #1 Saint Rose (1 p.m.)
Match 6: #3 UMass-Lowell at #2 Franklin Pierce (4 p.m.)

Sunday, November 8
Championship – at Higher Seed
Match 7: Match 5 Winner vs. Match 6 Winner