2005
NCAA DIVISION II QUARTERFINAL
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RINDGE,
N.H. (November 19, 2005) –
Franklin Pierce, ranked No. 15 in the final regular season National
Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas Division II poll,
will make its second trip to the final four (first since 1991) after
posting a 3-2 decision over No. 12 New York Institute of Technology
after the two sides played to a 1-1 double-overtime draw in
quarterfinal round action of the NCAA Division II Men’s Soccer
Championship at Sodexho Field tonight.
Franklin Pierce (15-5-5) advances to the National Semifinal for
the second time in program history after also reaching the final four
in 1991. The Ravens will face No. 4-ranked SIU-Edwardsville, a 1-0
victor over No. 6 Carson-Newman (Tenn.) University tonight in
Illinois, on Friday, December 2, at a time to be determined on Monday.
Midwestern State University, in Wichita Falls, Texas, is host for the
semifinals and championship. NYIT sees its season come to a close with
a 14-3-5 overall record.
“(Franklin Pierce) is a very, very good team,” said NYIT head coach Carlos Del Cid. “We played No. 9 (Lynn) and No. 3 (Dowling) and they are the best team we’ve seen all year. (Joyce) and (Guimaraes) are two excellent players. They deserved to advance tonight.”
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The
men will join the Franklin Pierce women’s team in Texas as the two
teams have reached the semifinal round for the first time in school
history in the same year. The women earned their Division II record 13th
final four berth in 14 years with a 2-1 victory over No. 5 West
Chester (Pa.) University at Sodexho Field earlier this afternoon.
“With a first class facility like (Sodexho Field) it’s up
to the coaches to make it happen,” said Franklin Pierce head coach Marco
Koolman. “President (George) Hagerty and (athletic director)
Bruce Kirsh have given us the opportunity and it’s our
responsibility to make it pay off. It’s a great thing for the
College.”
Sophomore
goalkeeper James Thorpe (East Longmeadow, Mass./Bridgton
Academy) stopped two NYIT penalty kicks in the shootout after
registering three saves during the 110-minutes of play. Thorpe
anticipated senior Christian Caines (Trinidad & Tobago) on
the Bears second attempt with a save to the left side, then stopped
freshman Dan Goldberg (Haifa, Israel) in the fifth round
to his left to seal the Ravens final four berth.
“I’m so used to (penalty kicks) now,” said Thorpe.
“This is my fourth time with them and it’s just my second year. On
the first save, I saw him look to my left and just gambled that he
wouldn’t change his mind. PK’s are the worst way to win and the
worst way to lose.”
The match pitted the top two scorers in Division II in Franklin Pierce All-American Christopher Joyce (Jarrow, England) and NYIT senior Peter Antoniades (London, England). Joyce netted the Ravens lone goal off a NYIT turnover, while the Ravens defensive unit limited Antoniades to one shot in the match. Antoniades also pulled his penalty attempt in the third round of the shootout wide to the left side.
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Joyce
opened the scoring when he collected a defensive turnover deep in the
NYIT defensive end and fired a low shot into the left corner from just
inside the top of the 18 at 33:02. The goal was his DII-leading 28th
of the season – now just one shy of the program’s single-season
record of 29 set by former two-time All-American Bojan Vuckovic in
1992.
“We always knew it was going to be a hard match tonight,”
said Joyce. “It’s a credit to the team, we have a lot of character
and a lot of pride and it showed tonight.”
New York Tech forced overtime with an equalizer with just 4:24
left in regulation. Caines collected a loose ball, took a couple of
touches, then fired a low drive into the lower right corner that
looked to have been slightly deflected in the 86th minute.
“We played a 4-4-2 formation to keep the score at 1-0,”
said Del Cid. “Then we switched to 3-4-3 after halftime so we could
attack more. It didn’t matter if we lost one, two or three to
zero.”
Both sides had chances in the two overtime sessions. Franklin
Pierce junior back Bisharra Ettienne (Queens, N.Y./Dominica
State College) nearly ended the match with a toe-poke inside
the six during a scramble off a corner kick 3:13 into the first
overtime, but Caines cleared the ball off the line with the keeper
stuck out of position. Thorpe was well positioned for a catch save on
an Antoniades header from eight yards out in the 99th
minute.
Freshman goalkeeper Harris Smiler (Alameda,
Calif./Alameda) made three saves in goal for NYIT.
“This is a very tough thing,” said Del Cid. “We have ten
seniors, which is my first recruiting class, who will graduate. But we
have a good group of players who will be back that we will build
around for the future.”
While Franklin Pierce is making its first trip to the final
four since 1991, Koolman will be making his fourth trip – his second
as a coach. Koolman was a member of two Golden Knight squads that
reached the national semifinals in 1989 and 1990, and then led his
alma mater to the final four in his third season as head coach in
1993.
“A season is a journey,” said Koolman. “Everyone forgets we had to replace three graduated midfielders with three freshman and it took a while for us to find ourselves. I credit every individual on this team, this is such a special group with so much leadership and character. All of the credit goes to them.”