Marques puts home first of season

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. (September 17, 2014) – The Franklin Pierce University women's soccer team piled up advantages of 24-12 in shot attempts and 14-6 in shots on goal on Wednesday night, but settled for a 2-2 draw against Merrimack in Northeast-10 Conference play at Martone-Mejail Field. The Ravens fell behind by a goal in each half, but were able to equalize in each stanza, with junior midfielder Fernanda Marques (Sao Paulo, Brazil) netting the game-tying goal in the 62nd minute.

With the tie, Franklin Pierce moves to 2-1-1 (0-1-1 Northeast-10), while Merrimack now stands at 3-0-1 (1-0-1 Northeast-10).

Merrimack opened the scoring on Wednesday night with a goal in the 16th minute. Junior forward Jenna Savi wound up with the ball in the penalty area, 10 yards in front of the goal. She put away her first goal of the season from there to give the Warriors their first lead of the night.

Franklin Pierce evened things at 1-1 in the 37th minute, on the second goal of the campaign for junior midfielder Kaycee Pereira (Ludlow, Mass.). She took a feed from junior back Saya Kato (Gifu, Japan) and sent it into the lower-right corner of the goal.

In the 59th minute, Merrimack was awarded a penalty kick and turned to Savi once again. She was able to beat Franklin Pierce freshman goalkeeper Casey Cook (Beverly, Mass.) from the spot for her second goal of the night.

The Ravens again equalized, this time just 3:16 later, in the 62nd minute. A shot by sophomore midfielder Madison Finlay (Plymouth, Mass.) was turned aside, but Marques finished off the rebound to draw Franklin Pierce level at 2-2. From there, the final 28:24 of regulation and all 20 minutes of overtime would go scoreless, as each team earned one point from the tie.

Cook finished with four saves against six shots on her goal in the tie (2-1-1) for Franklin Pierce. Junior Meghan Gulbrandsen stopped eight of 10 shots on her net over the first 61:37 and was credited with the tie (3-0-1) between the pipes for Merrimack. Freshman Molly Meehan stopped all four shots she faced over the remaining 48:23.

The Ravens return to the field on Saturday, Sept. 20, when they travel to Southern Connecticut State for a Northeast-10 Conference contest. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Jess Dow Field in New Haven, Conn. Franklin Pierce next plays at home on Wednesday, Sept. 24 against Stonehill at 7 p.m.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce men's soccer apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).