Tori Gikas gets a goal and two assists; Talita Pereira notches two tallies in collegiate debut

RINDGE, N.H. (September 2, 2011) – The No. 18-nationally ranked Franklin Pierce University women's soccer team opened its 2011 season on Friday afternoon with a 3-1 triumph over Mercy College at Sodexo Field in Rindge. The Ravens improved to 1-0, while the Mavericks fell to 0-1.

Franklin Pierce seized control of the offensive rhythm early in the first half and scored the contest's first three goals to take a commanding 3-0 advantage. The offensive firepower was supplied by senior Tori Gikas (Sydney, Australia) and sophomore Talita Pereira (Sao Paulo, Brazil). Gikas factored into all three goals, while Pereira buried the final two strikes.

Gikas got the first tally of the season in the sixth minute as she collected a loose ball off a deflected shot near the front of the goal and blasted a strike to the upper right corner of the net to make it 1-0.

Pereira scored the first goal of her collegiate career eight minutes later as she took a nice feed from Gikas down the middle of the field, dribbled around a defender and the goalkeeper, and slipped a shot into the back of the net for a 2-0 Ravens advantage.

Gikas and Pereira connected again in the 32^nd minute to make it 3-0 Franklin Pierce. The third strike came off another nice pass from Gikas, who slipped a crossing pass in front of the goal, which Pereira tracked down and fired a strike to the lower left corner past the diving Mercy goalkeeper.

Mercy, though, responded and stemmed the tide in the closing minutes of the first half as Caitlin McKenna scored off a free kick to pull the Mavericks to within two goals.

The Ravens held a 13-2 advantage in shots during the first half, but they could not regain the momentum in the second half as Mercy tried to claw its way back into the match.

Despite the offensive struggles, senior goalkeeper Jocelyn Leon (Lenox, Mass.) made a couple of saves in the second half to keep Mercy at bay and let the Franklin Pierce lead stand up.

Pereira ended the match with 10 shots, including putting seven on goal. Both Pereira and Gikas notched four-point afternoons to get the season started in fine fashion. Senior forward Amanda Panaro (Rockland, Mass.) made her presence felt in the match by recording five shots, including putting three on net. Freshman midfielder Ashley Giannakoulis (Sandwich, Mass.) also totaled two shots on goal in her collegiate debut.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Saturday when the Ravens play host to Queens (N.Y.) at 12 p.m. in Sodexo Field. It will be the final day of the FPU Classic in Rindge.

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), Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceAthletics) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics).