#16 Franklin Pierce Bests 
UMass Lowell, 3-2
Bakker double lifts Ravens to victory in 
wild conference battle

RINDGE, N.H. (October 4, 2003) – Franklin Pierce, ranked No. 16 in this week’s National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas Division II poll, netted the only goal of the second half to defeat UMass Lowell, 3-2, in a wild Northeast-10 Conference men’s soccer battle at Crystal Field this afternoon.

            Sophomore forward Lars Bakker (Enschede, The Netherlands) netted two goals, including the match-winner just 1:19 into the second half, to lead the Ravens. For his efforts, Bakker earned the Jeff Burstein Man-of-the-Match Award given annually to Franklin Pierce’s top player in its regular season meeting with UMass Lowell. Burstein, the 1998 Walter Peterson Male Student Athlete of the Year at the College, perished in an automobile accident near his hometown of Beachwood, N.J., in July 2001. He went on to serve as an assistant coach at UMass Lowell for men’s and women’s soccer and baseball.

            After a wild four-goal outburst within an 11-minute span in the first half, Bakker put Franklin Pierce, ranked second in the New England Region, ahead for good when he one-touched a cross from junior Mark Jansen (Enschede, The Netherlands) on the left flank.            

The Ravens opened the scoring in the 23^rd minute when junior Kenneth Reid (Sarpsborg, Norway) headed in a cross from the far left wing from freshman back Kevin Dailey (North Attleboro, Mass./North Attleboro), who was making his first collegiate start this afternoon.

            UMass Lowell leveled the match at the 28:07-mark when sophomore Nurradin Abdo (Chelsea, Mass./Bunker Hill CC) rifled in a rebound of a shot from junior Jason Paige (Woburn, Mass./Woburn) which was saved but not corralled by Franklin Pierce senior goalkeeper Domenico Roma (Windsor, Ontario/Ste. Annes).

            The goal was the first of the season against Roma, who saw his string of 301:53 scoreless minutes to open the season snapped with the goal.

            Franklin Pierce regained the lead just 16-seconds later when Bakker netted his first goal, assisted by junior back Michael Black (Guilford, Conn./Guilford), when he chipped a shot over UML sophomore keeper Bobby Ritter (North Andover, Mass./North Andover) at the 28:23-mark.

            The River Hawks equalized for a second time when Paige scored with a one-touch shot off a cross from the left flank from senior Sean O’Brien (Scotia, N.Y./Scotia-Glenville) in the 34^th minute.

            Roma finished with a season-high 11 saves in goal for Franklin Pierce – one shy of his career best total. He made a terrific save on the near post on a shot from UML freshman Andrew Doherty (Malden, Mass./Malden Catholic) in the 82^nd minute to preserve the victory.

Ritter made two stops for UMass Lowell, who finished with a 25-10 shots advantage for the match.

Franklin Pierce (6-3-1, 6-0 NE-10) returns to action on Tuesday when it visits Assumption College for a Conference match at 3:30 p.m. UMass Lowell (5-2-2, 4-2 NE-10) visits No. 7 Southern Connecticut State University on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.

MATCH STATISTICS