!!NATIONAL
CHAMPIONS!!
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soccer
team captured its first NCAA Division II National Championship in
program history with a 1-0 victory over 16th-ranked
Lincoln Memorial University (Tenn.) at the Orange Beach Sportsplex
this afternoon.
Franklin
Pierce (17-2-4) claims the sixth National Championship in University
history, adding to its five women’s soccer national championships
in the mid-to-late 1990’s. The Ravens first men’s title comes in
the program’s third Final Four appearance and after they were
national runners up in 2005. Lincoln Memorial University (20-4-1)
saw its quest for its first national championship come up just short
after making its second-straight Final Four appearance and first
title match.
“The one thing we stress in this program is that we can all be great players that you need personality and character,” said Franklin Pierce Head Coach Marco Koolman. “I think in those last two areas, these seniors have passed along that message to anyone who joined the program. I’m just so happy for these players, our University and alumni.”
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Grad
student David
Clifton (London, England)
earned Most Outstanding Offensive Player honors of the Final Four as
he netted the lone goal of the match with just 1:50 to play in
regulation. He took a pass on the right channel from junior Frantz
Francois (Saint-Marc, Haiti/Palm Beach Lakes (Fla.))
and chipped a shot over LMU senior goalkeeper Brent
Cole (Knoxville, Tenn.)
and into the upper left corner of the net for his NCAA Division II
record ninth goal of the Tournament.
“[The goal]
happened so fast, I just tried to lift it over and it went in,”
said Clifton. “It’s really nice to break records, but it's most
satisfying to win as a team and represent the University.”
Clifton, who
broke the Division II record for career tournament goals with ten,
scored Franklin Pierce’s last eight goals of the season and nine
of the Ravens 11 markers in the NCAA Tournament. He capped his
season with 25 goals and three assists for 53 points.
“In a game like this it takes scoring one more goal than the opposition,” said Koolman. “It was very much an appropriate goal for David to score.”
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Senior
All-America goalkeeper James
Thorpe (East Longmeadow, Mass./Bridgton Academy)
was forced to make just one save to preserve the championship
victory and his 12th shutout of the season to earn Most
Outstanding Defensive Player honors for the Final Four. The shutout
was the 49th of his four-year career – just one shy of
the Division II record of 50 set by former Southern Connecticut
State University All-American Bo Oshoniyi in the early 1990’s.
Thorpe also
broke the NCAA all-division record for minutes played by a
goalkeeper less than six minutes into the contest. His 8,391:11
career minutes played surpass the previous collegiate record of
8,306 set by Steve McCullough, who played for UNC Ashville and
Marquette from 1991-94.
Joining
Clifton and Thorpe on the All-Tournament team were Francois and
senior backs Michel
Vitulano (Montreal, Quebec/College de Maisonneuve)
and Bisharra
Ettienne (East Elmhurst, N.Y./Dominica State College).
Lincoln Memorial posted a 12-7 advantage in shots for the match, but placed just one shot on target. The Ravens had two shots on goal and enjoyed the better run of play and scoring chances all afternoon.
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“Our
sport is so unforgiving sometimes it makes no sense,” said Lincoln
Memorial Head Coach Helio
D’Anna. “We live
in a reality where not necessarily possessing, out-possessing,
out-shooting our out-doing anything guarantees anything. Franklin
Pierce is a great team, but we feel we did what it took to win the
game. That’s soccer and that’s why we love this game.”
Cole finished
with one save for LMU, that coming less than four minutes into the
contest when he charged off his line to stop a drive by junior Marek
Hawrylik (Olztyn, Poland/The Winchendon (Mass.) School)
from point-blank range after a nice give-and-go with Clifton.
“I
think we struggled in the first half,” said Koolman. “Part of it
was nerves and some players not realizing what was at stake. Part of
that we set straight at halftime and made some tactical changes.”
Franklin
Pierce had a couple of tense moments leading up to Clifton’s
winner. Thorpe had a corner kick slip through his hands and fall to
the feet of a Lincoln Memorial player at the far post, but the
scramble only produced a shot that flipped up over the crossbar.
Thorpe was also fooled by a free kick from 40-yards out by senior Guilherme
Alves (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
that got over his head but caromed off the left post in the 65th
minute.
”I
kind of cheated off my line and forgot about the wind,” said
Thorpe. “When he hit it I realized it was over my head. When it
hit the post, I was shocked and luckily it didn’t go in.”
The
second LMU chance came just moments after Francois produced Franklin
Pierce’s best chance aside from the goal in the match. He worked a
give-and-go with Clifton and broke in one-on-one with Cole, deking
the keeper to produce an open net, but could only put the ball off
the side netting from a tight angle on the left channel.
“For everyone involved in the program, it’s been a long hard battle, but I am proud, happy, and delighted for our school," said Koolman. "It’s great and wonderful to be the national champions."
2007 NCAA Division II
Championship
All-Tournament Team
David Clifton, Franklin Pierce (Most Outstanding Offensive Player)
James Thorpe, Franklin Pierce (Most Outstanding Defensive Player)
Bisharra Ettienne, Franklin Pierce
Michel Vitulano, Franklin Pierce
Frantz Francois, Franklin Pierce
Victor Souza, Lincoln Memorial
Claudio Rico, Lincoln Memorial
Leonardo de Barros, Lincoln Memorial
Nelson Pizarro, Lincoln Memorial
Brian Martinez, Midwestern State
Melford James, Jr., Montevallo