Franklin Pierce Tips 
American International, 
1-0 (OT)
Joyce header with 18-seconds left 
in first OT the difference

RINDGE, N.H. (September 17, 2005) – All-America forward Christopher Joyce’s (Jarrow, England) header with 18-seconds left in the first overtime lifted Franklin Pierce to a 1-0 victory over American International College, ranked eighth in this week’s National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas New England Regional poll, in a key early season Northeast-10 Conference men’s soccer match at Sodexho Field tonight.            

Joyce’s header off a serve from the right side by senior Evan Luster (Newington, Conn./Newington) ended a long match that was delayed for 36-minutes when play was halted in the 52^nd minute because of lightning in the area. Franklin Pierce, which finished with a 13-8 shots advantage (10-4 after halftime), is now unbeaten in four-straight and have yielded just one goal in that time.

            Sophomore goalkeeper James Thorpe (East Longmeadow, Mass./Bridgton Academy) made six saves to preserve his third shutout of the season (17^th career). Thorpe, unscored upon in his last 273:56 in the Ravens net, came up with a tremendous diving stop just after the match resumed after the weather delay on a point-blank header from AIC sophomore Marek Przbylek (Olsztyn, Poland/The Winchendon (Mass.) School).

            AIC senior goalkeeper Michael Murphy (Ithaca, N.Y./Herkimer CC) was largely untested through the first half and into the second. He was well positioned on the Ravens first good chance of regulation when junior back Peter Petropanagos (Mississauga, Ontario/York University) burst in one-on-one only to shoot the ball straight into Murphy’s chest in the 76^th minute.

            Murphy finished with four stops on the night, including a deflection of a drive from Raven sophomore Brandon McMahon (Chapelhall, Scotland) 4:15 into the extra session.

            Franklin Pierce (4-3-1, 2-0 NE-10) is back in action on Wednesday when it hosts Bentley College in a Conference match at 7 p.m. The match will be the second-half of a mid-week doubleheader with the Franklin Pierce women, who host Stonehill College at 3:30 p.m. American International (3-2-1, 2-1-1 NE-10) visits Merrimack College on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.  

MATCH STATISTICS