Franklin Pierce Clinch First 
NE-10 Championship
Ettienne double leads Ravens to 4-0 victory 
over #13 Southern Connecticut 
and first Conference title in ten years

RINDGE, N.H. (October 27, 2005) – Franklin Pierce, receiving votes in this week’s National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas Division II poll, clinched its first Northeast-10 Conference regular season championship with a convincing 4-0 decision over No. 13 Southern Connecticut State University in men’s soccer action at Sodexho Field tonight.

            Franklin Pierce (12-4-3, 10-1-2 NE-10), which wins its first Conference title of any kind since claiming the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) championship in 1995, earns the top seed and home field advantage throughout in the NE-10 Tournament that kicks off Sunday afternoon. The Ravens will host eighth-seeded Southern New Hampshire University (10-6-2, 6-5-2 NE-10) in a quarterfinal match (Time to be announced tomorrow afternoon).            

Southern Connecticut (10-4-3, 8-2-3 NE-10), which fails to win the NE-10 regular season title for the first time since joining the Conference, along with Franklin Pierce, prior to the 2000 season, will be the fourth seed in the NE-10 tournament and will host fifth-seeded UMass Lowell (10-5-2, 8-4-1 NE-10) in a quarterfinal match on Sunday.

            The four goals are the most for Franklin Pierce against Southern Connecticut since the Ravens posted a 4-3 victory over the Owls on October 7, 1995. That also marked the Ravens last victory over SCSU at home.

            Junior back Bisharra Ettienne (Queens, N.Y./Dominica State College) led Franklin Pierce with two goals for the first multi-goal match of his career. Freshman Raphael Guimaraes (Marlboro, Mass./Ashland) and All-America forward Christopher Joyce (Jarrow, England) also added markers for the Ravens who out-shot Southern 17-5 for the night.            

Sophomore goalkeeper James Thorpe (East Longmeadow, Mass./Bridgton Academy) made two saves to preserve his seventh shutout of the season (21^st career). Southern senior David Faugno (Stamford, Conn./Westhill) made five stops.

            Ettienne opened the scoring with a near post header off a corner kick from the right side by sophomore Brandon McMahon (Chapelhall, Scotland) with 7:57 remaining in the first half.

            While Franklin Pierce dominated possession for much of the first half, Southern claimed the early momentum in the second. The Ravens regrouped and freshman Marek Hawrylik (Olsztyn, Poland) just missed on a pair of good chances ten minutes into the stanza.

            The Ravens took over from there and Guimaraes doubled their advantage when he one-timed a Peter Petropanagos (Mississauga, Ontario/York University) cross from the right side into an open net at the far post at 58:38.            

Southern nearly cut its deficit in half in the 71^st minute, but Thorpe made a good save on a low angle bid from the right side by junior Darren Foster (Bloomfield, Conn./Hartford).

            Franklin Pierce put the match out of reach with a pair of markers in a five-minute span. Ettienne finished off his double with a low drive from 18-yards out in the right channel, off a feed from senior Evan Luster (Newington, Conn./Newington), at 76:13. Joyce rounded out the scoring when Hawrylik sent him in on a one-on-one break with Faugno off a Southern turnover at midfield. Joyce shrugged off a defender before netting his Conference-leading 24^th goal of the season into the lower left corner at 80:57.

            Franklin Pierce enters the postseason without trailing in a match since the 46^th minute of its 3-1 comeback victory over Le Moyne on October 4 – a streak of 604:18. The Ravens enter the postseason winners of five-straight and unbeaten over their last eight. They have outscored the opposition 27-2 over their last five. Franklin Pierce’s last loss was a 1-0 decision at Southern New Hampshire on September 28.

MATCH STATISTICS