FRANKLIN PIERCE LABOR DAY CLASSIC
#24 Franklin Pierce and Caldwell Postponed
Due to Lightning
Consistent lightning strikes in region force postponement after scoreless half

RINDGE, N.H. (August 30, 2007) – Franklin Pierce University, ranked 24^th in this week’s National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas Division II coaches’ poll, and Caldwell College had their match at the Franklin Pierce Labor Day Classic postponed due to lightning at Sodexho Field tonight.

            The match was abandoned following a delay of nearly 90-minutes due to consistent lightning strikes in the area because of locally severe storms in the Monadnock Region. Because the match had not reached the 70-minute mark, it is ruled a no-contest by NCAA rules and the teams will attempt to make the match up later in the season. The two teams were scoreless at halftime when the match was halted. Friday is not an option for a make up as Caldwell has a scheduled match with Saint Anselm College on Sunday in Manchester after day two of the Labor Day Classic on Saturday.

            The University of Bridgeport, ranked 17^th in this week’s NSCAA/adidas Division II poll, erupted for five second-half goals to claim a 5-1 victory over Nyack College in today’s opening match. Freshman Matt Gontowicz (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xavarian) came off the bench to notch a goal and assist for the Purple Knights.

            Nyack held a 1-0 lead at the intermission on a strike by junior Samuel Oduro (Toronto, Ontario) in the 25^th minute. Bridgeport erupted ten minutes after halftime, reversing the score line with a pair of markers 17-seconds apart. Gontowicz knotted the score with a header off a corner kick at 54:49, before sophomore Gilbert Bayonne (Amityville, N.Y./St. John the Baptist) stole a back pass to the Nyack keeper and tipped the ball into an open net at 55:06.

            Gontowicz helped double Bridgeport’s lead in the 60^th minute when he set up sophomore Carl Sutherland (Branford, Conn./Branford) for a goal. Akil Pompey (Queens, N.Y./St. Anthony’s College) converted a penalty kick in the 72^nd minute, before junior Habib Sylla (Conakry, Guinea) rounded out the scoring in the 87^th.