Junior Bjorgolfor Takefusa netted a pair of first half goals to spark the Ravens offense.

Franklin Pierce Handles
Saint Rose, 6-3

RINDGE, N.H. (September 17, 2002) - Franklin Pierce, ranked sixth in this week's National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas New England regional poll, claimed its first Conference victory of the season with a 6-3 decision over College of Saint Rose in Northeast-10 Conference men's soccer action at Crystal Field this afternoon.

Franklin Pierce staked out a 5-0 lead at the intermission and led 6-0 in the 53rd minute before Saint Rose answered with the final three goals of the match. The Ravens ended a three-match winless string dating back to a 3-2 overtime triumph at University of New Haven on September 4.

Senior Tate Travis also netted two first half markers as Franklin Pierce staked out a 5-0 lead at the intermission.

Senior Tate Travis (Detroit, Mich./UC Santa Barbara) and junior Bjorgolfor Takefusa (Reykjavik, Iceland) sparked the Ravens with two first-half goals apiece, while freshman Evan Luster (Newington, Conn./Newington) made his collegiate debut and totaled four points with a goal and two assists for the afternoon.

Grad student Chris Schwarz (Babenhausen, Germany) added a marker for Franklin Pierce, while sophomore Kyle Miller (Newburgh, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy) and junior Robin Drastig (Hofheim, Germany) chipped in assists.

Takefusa put the Ravens on the board with an score on a direct kick from the top left corner of the penalty area that he placed just inside the far post a mere 1:11 into the match. Takefusa gave Franklin Pierce a 3-0 advantage with a penalty kick in the 28th minute, after Travis netted his first goal in the 23rd minute, assisted by Miller.

Freshman Evan Luster totaled four points in his collegiate debut.

Saint Rose struck in the 70th minute as sophomore Anthony Henry netted his first of two goals, assisted by junior Josh Gregg. Henry rounded out the scoring, assisted by junior Jason Abare, in the 88th minute. Abare also dished the assist on the Golden Knights second tally, a marker from freshman Mike Califano at the 78:04-mark.

Franklin Pierce junior goalkeeper Domenico Roma (Windsor, Ontario/Ste. Annes) made three saves without allowing a goal in 45-minutes of action before yielding to sophomore Jeremy Greco (Bethlehem, Conn./Nonnewang), who posted two stops in his collegiate debut.

Saint Rose sophomore Ryan Gingrich posted four saves in 45-minutes of relief for starter Tim Busch.

Franklin Pierce (3-2-2, 1-1-2 NE-10) returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Granite State rival Saint Anselm College in a key Northeast-10 Conference match at 1 p.m.