Franklin Pierce Slips Past
#5 UMass Lowell, 1-0
Ettienne nets winner and named
Jeff Burstein Man-of-the-Match

RINDGE, N.H. (September 8, 2007) – Franklin Pierce University, ranked eighth in this week’s National Soccer Coaches’ Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas New England Regional poll, opened defense of its back-to-back Northeast-10 Conference regular season titles with a 1-0 victory over the University of Massachusetts Lowell, ranked fifth in the NSCAA/adidas Division II national poll and first in the New England Region, in an NE-10 men’s soccer match at Sodexho Field tonight.

Senior All-America back Bisharra Ettienne (East Elmhurst, N.Y./Dominica State College) scored the lone goal of the match when he snuck through the UMass Lowell defense on a restart and one-timed a free kick from classmate Michel Vitulano (Montreal, Quebec/College de Maisonneuve) off the side of his foot to the left of the UML goalkeeper in the 74^th minute.

Ettienne, who also spearheaded a Ravens defense that limited UMass Lowell to just five shots (two on goal), was named the Jeff Burstein Man-of-the-Match for his efforts by Ravens head coach Marco Koolman. The award is given to Franklin Pierce’s top player in its annual regular season match with UMass Lowell in memory of the 1998 Walter Peterson Male Student-Athlete of the Year who perished in an automobile accident near his hometown of Beachwood, N.J., on July 26, 2001. The former Ravens goalkeeper and standout baseball player, inducted into Franklin Pierce’s Athletics Hall of Fame in May, served as an assistant coach at UMass Lowell for two years after graduating from Franklin Pierce.

Last year’s Burstein Award winner, senior All-American James Thorpe (East Longmeadow, Mass./Bridgton Academy) made two late saves to preserve his second shutout of the season (NE-10 record 39^th career). Sophomore Ryan Richards (Holden, Mass./Wachusett) collected three saves in goal for UMass Lowell, but saw his streak of three-straight shutouts ended as Ettienne’s winner snapped a string of 333:50 scoreless minutes for the goalkeeper.

Neither team produced a shot on goal in the opening half, and shots were an even five aside for the entire match. Franklin Pierce posted a 4-2 advantage in shots on target. The lone goal came when Ettienne timed his run perfectly to get on the end of Vitulano’s free kick, which seemed to catch UMass Lowell off guard. Junior Marek Hawrylik (Olsztyn, Poland/The Winchendon (Mass.) School) should have doubled the Ravens advantage just moments later, when a through ball sent him in one-on-one with Richards, but he pushed his shot straight to the keeper in the 79^th minute.

UMass Lowell pressured in the final ten minutes for the equalizer. Thorpe charged off his line in the 80^th minute to smother an attempt by UML sophomore Rudy Kocandrie (Northboro, Mass./Algonquin). The three-time NE-10 Goalkeeper of the Year was well positioned for a catch save on a low-angle bid by junior Jose Esteves (Fall River, Mass./Durfee) in the 85^th.     

Franklin Pierce (2-1-1, 1-0-0 NE-10) is back in action on Wednesday night when it visits Assumption College for a Conference match at 7 p.m. The Ravens return home next Saturday when it hosts American International College at 7 p.m. UMass Lowell (3-1-1, 1-1-0 NE-10) hosts Bryant University on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

MATCH STATISTICS & PLAY-BY-PLAY