#8 Franklin Pierce Rolls
at Merrimack, 3-0
Clifton bags third hat trick in four matches
as Ravens run unbeaten streak to 12

 NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. (October 10, 2007) – Franklin Pierce University, ranked eighth in this week’s National Soccer Coaches’ Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas Division II coaches’ poll, rode grad student David Clifton’s (London, England) third hat trick in four matches to a 3-0 victory at Merrimack College, ranked fourth in the New England Region, in a key Northeast-10 Conference men’s soccer clash at Warrior Field tonight.

            Clifton, who netted his third hat trick of the season, has now scored seven goals over Franklin Pierce’s last two matches and has ten markers over the Ravens last four contests. In nine starts since returning from a preseason injury, Clifton has surged to the top of the NE-10 scoring charts with 15 goals and two assists for 32 points. Collecting assists for the Ravens tonight were junior Marek Hawrylik (Olsztyn, Poland/The Winchendon (Mass.) School), sophomore Matthijs Eppinga (Drachten, The Netherlands) and freshman Johan Torstensson (Falkoping, Sweden).           

Senior All-America goalkeeper James Thorpe (East Longmeadow, Mass./Bridgton Academy) made nine saves (one shy of his career-high) to notch his sixth shutout of the season (43^rd career). Junior Rob Pedra (South Hamilton, Mass./Hamilton-Wenham) finished with one stop for Merrimack. The Warriors posted a 13-6 advantage in shots for the match, forcing Thorpe to make six stops in the second half alone to preserve the victory.

            Clifton opened the scoring on Franklin Pierce’s first shot 13:24 into the match as Hawrylik released him on a breakaway with a pass with Clifton slotting a low shot to Pedra’s right. Merrimack nearly equalized eight minutes later, but senior Donnie Aylward’s (Groveland, Mass./Pentucket) blast from 25-yards out caromed off the crossbar.

Franklin Pierce doubled its lead in the 32^nd minute on their second shot of the contest when Clifton headed in a serve from Torstensson. Clifton put the match away in the 70^th minute when he pounced on a rebound after Eppinga’s original attempt was blocked and fired a shot into an open net, catching Pedra off his line.

Franklin Pierce (10-1-2, 9-0-1 NE-10) returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Saint Michael’s College, ranked seventh in the region, as part of Alumni Reunion Weekend at 2 p.m. The Ravens are unbeaten over their last 12 NE-10 regular season matches (11-0-1) dating back to a 1-0 loss to the Purple Knights on October 14, 2006, in Colchester, Vt. Franklin Pierce is 32-2-4 (.895) over its last 38 NE-10 matches.

Merrimack (10-4-2, 5-3-2 NE-10) is on the road to face No. 14 UMass Lowell on Saturday at 3 p.m.

MATCH STATISTICS & PLAY-BY-PLAY