#10 Franklin Pierce Held to Draw With Le Moyne, 1-1 (2OT)
Dolphins net late equalizer in battle
of top two teams in NE-10

RINDGE, N.H. (October 2, 2007) – Franklin Pierce University, ranked 10^th in this week’s National Soccer Coaches’ Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas Division II coaches’ poll, was forced to settle for a 1-1 double-overtime draw with Le Moyne College, ranked fourth in the New England Region, in a battle for first place in the Northeast-10 Conference men’s soccer standings at Sodexho Field this afternoon.

            The draw keeps Le Moyne and Franklin Pierce separated by just a point atop the Northeast-10 standings, with the Ravens holding two matches in hand. Franklin Pierce held a commanding 14-2 advantage in shots for the match, including 7-0 in the opening half and 12-1 in regulation, with Le Moyne netting the equalizer on its lone shot of regulation in the 88^th minute. The Ravens also posted an 11-3 edge in corner kicks.

            Junior forward Matthew Pecheone (New Hartford, N.Y./New Hartford) scored the equalizer with just 2:24 left in regulation, when he took a pass from sophomore Brice Rudat (Nassau, N.Y./Columbus) and caught Franklin Pierce senior All-America goalkeeper James Thorpe (East Longmeadow, Mass./Bridgton Academy) off his line with a chip shot from the upper left corner of the penalty area that bounced twice before crossing the endline just inside the far post.           

Franklin Pierce opened the scoring just before halftime and have now struck first in all 11 matches so far this season. Sophomore Henning Comé (Gothenburg, Sweden) knocked in a cross by senior Mike Lima (Ludlow, Mass./Ludlow) at the right post with 1:39 left in the first half.

            Junior goalkeeper Steve White (Cortland, N.Y./Cortland) made three saves to preserve the result for Le Moyne, while Thorpe finished with one stop for Franklin Pierce.

            Franklin Pierce just missed on numerous chances, especially in the first half. It appeared the Ravens would open the scoring off a corner kick in the 20^th minute, but Le Moyne junior Bennett Grubbs (Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette) was well positioned on the goal line to clear a pair of shots by Raven junior Marek Hawrylik (Olsztyn, Poland/The Winchendon (Mass.) School). The second rebound fell to Comé, but White just got a glove to the drive from the top of the 18 and parried the shot over the crossbar.

            None of Franklin Pierce’s seven shots after halftime were on target, with near misses in the second half coming from junior Frantz Francois (Saint-Marc, Haiti) and sophomore Matthijs Eppinga (Drachten, The Netherlands), giving Le Moyne the opportunity to pull out a late equalizer. Grad student David Clifton (London, England) nearly ended the match 2:36 into overtime, but his chip from the right side drifted just wide.

            Thorpe was called on for a save of a drive from the upper right corner of his 18 by senior Steve Blackwell (Oswego, N.Y./Oswego) 2:58 into the second half, which would prove to be the lone shot by either side in the final session. 

Franklin Pierce (8-1-2, 7-0-1 NE-10) returns to action on Saturday when it visits in-state rivals Saint Anselm College at 1 p.m. The Ravens do not return home until Saturday, October 13, when they host Saint Michael’s College as part of Alumni Reunion Weekend at 2 p.m. Le Moyne (9-1-2, 7-1-2 NE-10) travels to No. 4-ranked University of Massachusetts Lowell on Saturday at 3 p.m.

MATCH STATISTICS & PLAY-BY-PLAY