Franklin Pierce Pair Earn NE-10 Honors
Clifton named NE-10 Player of the Week for first time
Johansson collects third NE-10 Freshman of the Week award 

RINDGE, N.H. (October 1, 2007) – Two Franklin Pierce University soccer players collected weekly awards from the Northeast-10 Conference today.

            Grad student David Clifton (London, England) was named the NE-10 Player of the Week for men’s soccer, while freshman Angelika Johansson (Falkenberg, Sweden) earned NE-10 women’s soccer Freshman of the Week honors for a third time.           

Clifton, who earns his first NE-10 weekly award, led the 14^th-ranked Franklin Pierce men’s team to a 2-0 week with four goals for eight points. He netted the match-winning goal with a penalty kick in the 67^th minute to help lift the Ravens to a 2-0 victory at rival Southern New Hampshire on Wednesday night. Clifton posted a second-half hat trick to break open a 2-1 score in Saturday’s 5-1 triumph over Stonehill College. Clifton netted his four goals on just six shots on target (eight shots overall) in the two contests.           

Clifton, who missed Franklin Pierce’s first four games with an injury, has provided a significant scoring lift for the Ravens since returning. His is second on the team with 18 points (3^rd NE-10) and eight goals (3^rd) to go with two assists in just six matches played. Clifton’s 3.00 points and 1.33 goals per match lead the Northeast-10.

            Clifton is just two points shy of cracking Franklin Pierce’s career top 25 scoring list with 35 points in just his second season with the Ravens. He has totaled 16 goals and three assists in 22 career matches. Clifton was a third team All-NE-10 selection in 2006, finishing second on the team in both goals (eight) and points (17).           

Johansson led the 18^th-ranked Franklin Pierce women to a pair of key wins last week with four goals for eight points. She netted her second hat trick of the season to lead the Ravens to a 4-1 victory at No. 24 Merrimack College on Tuesday, scoring the first two goals of the contest, including the match-winner, in the opening 29-minutes. Johansson contributed a goal in Saturday’s 3-1 win at in-state rivals Southern New Hampshire.

            Johansson has made an immediate impact for Franklin Pierce this fall, ranking second only to senior All-American Gabriela Demoner (Curitiba, Brazil) among NE-10 and team leaders with 26 points and 11 goals, while her four assists are good for third on the team (7^th NE-10). Her two match-winning goals this season are tied for the team lead and rank sixth in the Conference.

Both the Franklin Pierce men (8-1-1, 7-0-0 NE-10) and women (8-1-2, 6-1-2 NE-10) return to action this week with home contests against Le Moyne College. The men face the Dolphins tomorrow in a battle for first place in the NE-10 standings at 4 p.m., while the women square off on Wednesday at 4 p.m. Franklin Pierce’s men are unbeaten over their last nine, including a perfect start to its Conference schedule, while women are unbeaten over their last six with three-straight wins.