Ravens making NCAA-record 18th-consecutive appearance in NCAA Tournament

2009 NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Tournament Bracket

2009 NCAA East Regional Tournament Central

RINDGE, N.H. (November 9, 2009) – The 19th-ranked Franklin Pierce University women’s soccer team on Monday night earned its Division II-record 18th-consecutive berth in the NCAA Tournament. The Ravens will face Holy Family on Friday at 2 p.m. in the first round of the East Regional in Bridgeport, Conn.

The Ravens (16-4-1) will be the No. 3 seed in the regional, while Holy Family (13-8-1) is the sixth seed. The winner of Friday’s contest will face the University of Bridgeport (16-1-3) on Sunday at 1 p.m. in the regional semifinal. Bridgeport earned the No. 2 seed in the East and the right to host one of the two sub-regionals.

Joining Bridgeport as the other host-school in the East Region is top-seeded Saint Rose (21-0-0), who won the Northeast-10 Championship on Sunday to earn the league’s automatic bid. The Golden Knights will face the winner of Friday’s opening round match between NE-10 rivals UMass-Lowell (12-5-3) and Merrimack (13-5-3). The River Hawks are the No. 4 seed in the region, while the Warriors are the fifth seed.

The two teams that advance from the East sub-regionals will battle for the East Region championship on Friday, Nov. 20, at the top-remaining seed from the East Region. The East Region champion would then face the Atlantic Region champion on Sunday, Nov. 22 in the NCAA national quarterfinals, thus determining who would advance to the Final Four on the first weekend in December.

Franklin Pierce will be making its NCAA Division II record 18th-straight appearance in the NCAA women's tournament. The Ravens have won an NCAA II record five national championships (1994-97, '99) and reached the national final on two other occasions, including the 2007 season when the Ravens fell in a penalty kick shootout to the University of Tampa after the two sides played to a 0-0 double-overtime draw.

Since regional play began in 1996, Franklin Pierce has won 12-of-13 regional titles. The Ravens have appeared in the Final Four 14 times in their 17 previous NCAA Tournament appearances.

Franklin Pierce enters the 2009 national tournament fresh off an appearance in the Northeast-10 Championship game on Sunday versus Saint Rose. The Ravens were making their second-consecutive appearance in the conference championship and for the ninth time in 10 seasons since joining the league in 2000.

The Ravens are led by a pair of seniors who garnered player-of-the-year honors from the Northeast-10 this season. Midfielder Gabriela Demoner (Vitoria, Brazil) and back Rachel Smith (Chichester, N.H.) were named the conference’s player of the year and co-defensive player of the year, respectively, two weeks ago as voted on by the league’s head coaches. Demoner has scored 30 goals this season and added seven assists for 67 points. Smith has anchored a defensive unit this season that has produced 11 shutouts and yielded just 16 goals for an average of just 0.75 goals allowed per contest.

Junior forward Angelika Johansson (Falkenberg, Sweden) is another potent weapon for the Ravens, as she has scored 17 goals this season while also being named to the Northeast-10 First-Team (marking the third time in her career she was named to the all-conference first-team). Franklin Pierce also enjoys the services of three other players who garnered all-league recognition this season, including second-team selections Shona Franklin (Birmingham, England) and Amanda Panaro (Rockland, Mass.), and all-rookie honoree Julie Foster (Dennis, Mass.).

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


2009 NCAA Division II Women’s Soccer East Region Schedule
Friday, November 13
Opening Round
#3 Franklin Pierce vs. #6 Holy Family (at Univ. of Bridgeport, Bridgeport, Conn.)
#4 UMass-Lowell vs. #5 Merrimack (at Saint Rose, Albany, N.Y.)

Sunday, November 15
Semifinals
Franklin Pierce/Holy Family winner vs. #2 Bridgeport (at Univ. of Bridgeport, Bridgeport, Conn.)
UMass-Lowell/Merrimack winner vs. #1 Saint Rose (at Saint Rose, Albany, N.Y.)

Friday, November 20
Finals
Franklin Pierce/Holy Family/Bridgeport vs. UMass-Lowell/Merrimack/Saint Rose (at highest remaining seed in the East Region)