Ravens to face one of the greatest players in program history as former standout Gabriela Demoner is part of Brazilian National Team

RINDGE, N.H. (March 27, 2012) -- Franklin Pierce University women's soccer head coach Jeff Bailey announced on Tuesday that the Ravens will be facing the Brazilian National Team in a "friendly" on Thursday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. in Bowditch Stadium in Framingham, Mass. 

In addition to the highlight of playing against one of the top teams in the world, Franklin Pierce will also have the opportunity to square off against one of the top players in program history as former standout Gabriela Demoner is a current member of the Brazilian squad. 

Demoner played at Franklin Pierce from 2006-09 and was a four-time All-American and two-time Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Year (2007 & 2009). During her senior season of 2009, she scored 32 goals and assisted on eight others for 72 points. She led all of women's college soccer (Divisions I, II & III) in goal scoring for nearly the entire season.

Immediately following the conclusion of her collegiate playing career, Demoner joined the Brazilian National Team to compete in the 2009 Internation Tournament in Sao Paulo, Brazil. She did an outstanding job for Brazil in the tournament and was invited back to compete with the team in training for the 2011 World Cup. Demoner was having a strong run with the national team and seemed to be a lock to take part in the huge international tournament, but near the start of competition suffered an injury which forced her to miss the event.

Demoner is back training with the team as the squad will use Thursday's exhibition as a tune-up for the Challenge Cup, which will be held in the next couple of weeks in Japan. Brazil will face the United States and Japan in the competition.

Franklin Pierce is getting ready to begin its spring practice season as the squad is busy getting to work preparing for the 2012 season, which will kick off in September. Thursday's "friendly" will be one of several spring scrimmages the team will take part in during the next several weeks.

The current Ravens roster is comprised of several players who hail from Brazil, including sophomores Talita Pereira (Sao Paulo, Brazil), Gabriela Vieira (Sao Paulo, Brazil), Eize Vieira (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Rebeca De Melo (Sao Paulo, Brazil).

Gabriela Vieira and Pereira join senior Aya Noguchi (Tokyo, Japan) as the three Ravens who will return in 2012 as All-Northeast-10 Conference honorees. Noguchi earned second-team honors from the league in 2011, while Vieira and Pereira each captured third-team accolades. Pereira was also named to the all-rookie team. In each of Noguchi's first two years in Rindge, she has been named to the All-NE-10 second-team and to the NSCAA All-East Region Second-Team.

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/FranklinPierceRavens).