Shona Franklin recorded a team-high two shots on goal for the Ravens

BOXSCORE

ALBANY, N.Y. (November 7, 2010) – The Franklin Pierce University women’s soccer team’s bid for a Northeast-10 Championship came up just short in a tough 3-0 setback to No. 1 Saint Rose in the finals on Sunday in Albany, N.Y. The Ravens fell to 14-5-1, while the Golden Knights improved to 21-0.

Franklin Pierce junior goalkeeper Jocelyn Leon (Lenox, Mass.) kept her team in the match during the first half, including making an outstanding save with under five minutes remaining as she swiped away a ball that was bouncing along the goal line. She made four saves in the period as the teams entered the intermission deadlocked at 0-0.

However, Saint Rose was able to solve Leon in the second half and scored three times to earn the victory. Gianna D’Errico broke the scoreless tie in the 59th minute when she took a pass from Coco Ebersole and fired from eight yards out to the top side of the net to put the Golden Knights up 1-0.

Saint Rose scored again in the 77th minute when Ebersole notched her second assist as she fed a pass to Kimberly Morton, who followed by striking a blast to the left side of the net. The Golden Knights capped the scoring in the 81st minute when Christina Cuffari notched her 10th goal of the season when she fired a shot into the upper-right corner of the net from the top of the box.

Franklin Pierce had seven shots in the game, including getting two apiece from freshman back Eize Vieira (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and senior midfielder Shona Franklin (Birmingham, England).

Despite the setback, Franklin Pierce is a strong favorite to receive an at-large bid to its 19th-straight NCAA Tournament, which is a Division II record. The announcement for the NCAA selections will be made on Monday evening and further information will be posted on the team’s page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.)

For more information on Franklin Pierce women’s soccer, please visit the team’s page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.) To follow the program even further, please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on YouTube (www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceAthletics).