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Amanda Panaro and Tori Gikas each score a goal and assist on another

BOXSCORE                                           

RINDGE, N.H. (September 3, 2010) – The No. 11-nationally ranked Franklin Pierce University women’s soccer team used a strong defensive effort to key its 2010 season-opening 2-0 win over Queens (N.Y.) on Friday afternoon at Sodexo Field in Rindge. The Ravens improved to 1-0, while Queens fell to 0-1.

The game was the finale of the first day of the Franklin Pierce Classic. In the first game of the afternoon, Southern Connecticut downed Felician by a count of 6-1. SCSU will battle Queens at 1 p.m. tomorrow afternoon, while Franklin Pierce will take on Felician in the tournament’s finale at 4 p.m.

Franklin Pierce limited Queens to just three shots during the game and none on goal. Franklin Pierce goalkeeper Jocelyn Leon (Lenox, Mass.), who took a hard fall earlier in the game, ran her record to 1-0 as she helped guide and set up the impressive defensive work from her view in net.

Junior forwards Amanda Panaro (Rockland, Mass.) and Tori Gikas (Sydney, Australia) each scored a goal and assisted on the other’s to pace the offensive attack for the Ravens.

Gikas scored the first goal of the season in the third minute as she kicked in a loose ball in front of the net off a pass from Panaro inside the box.

Panaro had an opportunity early in the second half to make it 2-0, but she just missed as she blasted a ball high over the net. However, Panaro got another opportunity just moments later as she converted a cross pass from Gikas and slipped it into the lower right center of the goal for the two-goal advantage for Franklin Pierce.

The Ravens backs clamped down the rest of the contest and yielded just two more Queens’ shots in the closing minutes.

For more information on Franklin Pierce women’s soccer, please visit the team’s page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.) You can also visit www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports and www.twitter.com/FPUathletics to find out more about the program.