Top-Seeded Franklin Pierce to Battle 
#2 Merrimack for NE-10 Title
# 7 Ravens and #11 Warriors set to square off
in third-straight NE-10 Tournament title match  

RINDGE, N.H. (November 7, 2003) – Franklin Pierce and Merrimack College will battle for the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament title for the third-straight year when the top two teams, not only in the NE-10, but the New England Region kickoff on Sunday at 1 p.m. The match will be played at Franklin Pierce’s Field Hockey/Lacrosse complex due to continued unplayable conditions at Crystal Field. Admission to the event is free and the field is located approximately 100-yards behind the Crystal Field press box and grandstand.

            Top-seeded Franklin Pierce (17-2, 13-1 NE-10), ranked No. 7 in this week’s National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas Division II poll, captured its third-straight NE-10 regular season crown and is in search of a Conference-record fourth-straight tournament title, having won of all three titles since joining the Conference in 2000.

            Sunday will mark the 25^th meeting all-time between the two rivals, the eighth in postseason play and the fourth in NE-10 Tournament play. Franklin Pierce holds a 19-4-1 advantage in the all-time series which dates back to 1987, which includes a 7-0 mark in postseason play, 3-0 in Northeast-10 Tournament matches. The Ravens have defeated Merrimack for its last two Conference Tournament titles, posting a 2-0 victory in the 2000 title match and a 2-1 decision last fall.

            Merrimack (19-2, 12-2 NE-10), ranked No. 11 in this week’s Division II poll, won the regular season encounter between the two teams with a 1-0 decision in North Andover, Mass., on October 1. Senior Lindsay Bruno (Wilmington, Mass./Wilmington) broke the scoreless tie with just 2:31 left in regulation and the Warriors withstood two point-blank chances by the Ravens in the closing seconds to snap an 18-match winless streak against Franklin Pierce dating back to the 1991 season.

            Franklin Pierce advanced to Sunday’s championship match after posting a 6-0 victory over eighth-seeded Pace University last Sunday in the quarterfinals and defeating No. 5 Southern New Hampshire University, 3-1, in Wednesday’s semifinal. Sophomore forward Laura Hislop (Belfast, Northern Ireland) has been on fire in the postseason, netting six goals and dishing an assist for 13 points (6.5 per match) over the first two games. She has netted a hat trick on both NE-10 Tournament matches, including all three goals in Wednesday’s win at SNHU.            

Hislop, a four-time Northeast-10 Player of the Week, now leads the Conference in all three offensive categories with 71 points (2^nd in Division II), 25 goals (6^th) and her 21 assists also leads all of Division II. She is just three assists shy of the program’s single-season record of 24 set by Angela Verdoes in 1999 and her 71 points are already good for 18^th on the program’s career scoring list. She has also registered four hat tricks this season and netted five match-winning goals.

             Junior All-American Meghan Welcome (Haverhill, Mass./Haverhill), the reigning NE-10 Player of the Year, ranks second to Hislop among NE-10 leaders with 53 points (7^th DII) and 23 goals to go with seven assists (3^rd on team). She leads the team with eight match-winning goals this season and has totaled 19 for her career. Welcome netted her 50^th career goal in Sunday’s win over Pace, which ranks sixth all-time and ranks eighth all-time at the College with 118 career points, which is just six shy of Amy Hanlon’s (’96) career record for a US-born player at the College.

            Also aiding in the Ravens offensive effort this season are sophomore Sonya Hughes (Balbriggan, Ireland), with 21 points on 13 assists (2^nd NE-10) and four goals, and freshman Alex Scavo (Markham, Ontario/Brother Andre), with 18 points on seven goals and four assists.            

Senior goalkeeper Aase Kibsgaard (Korgen, Norway), this week’s NE-10 Goalkeeper of the Week, anchors the Franklin Pierce defensive unit as she leads the NE-10 with a 0.58 goals against average to go with an .824 save percentage and seven shutouts. She currently ranks fifth all-time at the College with 15 career shutouts, while her 0.60 career goals against ranks third all-time and her .806 career save percentage ranks fifth all-time.

            Kibsgaard, junior back Martta Makila (Vantaa, Finland) and sophomore midfielder Elizabeth Allen (Durham, N.H./Oyster River) all earned CoSIDA Academic All-District honors this week. Kibsgaard, a 3.72 student majoring in child development and education, and Makila, a 3.73 student majoring in mass communication, were both named to the first team, while Allen, a 3.93 student majoring in sports management, was selected to the second team.

            Franklin Pierce has never lost a home match in postseason play entering Sunday’s NE-10 title match (the first ever to be played at home). The Ravens are 18-0 overall at home in the postseason, 4-0 in NE-10 tournament play, although all but one of those matches was played on Crystal Field. Franklin Pierce is also unbeaten over its last 95-matches (93-0-2) at home against New England Region opposition. Franklin Pierce is 11-0 in NE-10 Tournament play dating back to the 2000 season and has out-scored its opposition in those matches by a 37-5 margin.            

Merrimack has battled through a pair of tight contests on its way to a record 13^th NE-10 Championship match appearance. The Warriors, winners of a Conference-record five tournament titles, posted a 1-0 victory over seventh-seeded Bentley College in the quarterfinals, before holding on for a 2-1 win over third-seeded College of Saint Rose on Wednesday night. Senior goalkeeper Erika Paiva (Rumford, R.I./St. Raphael) has carried to Warriors with an exceptional effort in goal. She has posted a 0.46 goals against average through the first two postseason matches, stopping 17 of the 18 shots on goal she has faced (94.4%).

            Junior Laurie Lamoureux (Leicester, Mass./Leicester) leads the Warriors with 46 points this spring (3^rd NE-10) on 19 goals (3^rd) and eight assists (10^th). She has been particularly effective in matches against Franklin Pierce in her career as she has totaled two goals and an assist in seven career matches against the Ravens, playing a role in three of the last four goals the Warriors have scored against them.

            Bruno ranks second on the team with 39 points (5^th NE-10), 15 goals (6^th) and nine assists (7^th). Freshman Kim Costanzo (Norwich, N.Y./Kellenberg) has made an immediate impact for the Warriors and has totaled 18 points with five goals and eight helpers (6^th NE-10) this season. Junior Mary Blais (Marshfield, Mass./Marshfield) has dished a team-high 11 assists (5^th NE-10) to go with three goals for 17 points.

            Paiva ranks second in the Northeast-10 with a 0.70 goals against average this season to go with a .882 save percentage and Conference-leading nine shutouts while playing all but 117 of her team’s 1,925 minutes in goal.

            Both teams are virtual locks to receive invitations to the NCAA Division II Tournament, which will be announced on Monday evening. However, with Merrimack holding a victory over Franklin Pierce already this season, the Warriors would likely reassume the top spot in the region with a win in Sunday’s match.

            2003 Northeast-10 Conference Women’s Soccer Championships

 QUARTERFINALS
Sunday, November 2:
#1 Franklin Pierce 6, #8 Pace 0
#5 Southern New Hampshire 2, #4 Bryant 1 – 2OT
#3 Saint Rose 3, #6 Southern Connecticut State 0
#2 Merrimack 1, #7 Bentley 0 – 2OT  

SEMIFINALS
Wednesday, November 5
#1 Franklin Pierce 3, #5 Southern New Hampshire 1
#2 Merrimack 2, #3 Saint Rose 1  

CHAMPIONSHIP
Sunday, November 9
#2 Merrimack at #1 Franklin Pierce, 1 p.m.