#9 Assumption Shocks 
#2 Franklin Pierce, 3-2
Marcoccio nets double, including winner 
with 36-seconds to play

RINDGE, N.H. (September 14, 2005) – Senior Andrea Marcoccio (Warwick, R.I./Pilgrim) scored two goals, including the match-winner with 36-seconds left in regulation, to lead Assumption College, ranked No. 9 in this week’s National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas Division II poll, to a 3-2 victory over No. 2-ranked Franklin Pierce in a key Northeast-10 Conference women’s soccer match tonight at Sodexho Field.

            The loss was the first for Franklin Pierce on Sodexho Field in ten matches (8-1-1) as well as its first to Assumption College in 19 meetings (18-1). The victory was the third-straight for the Greyhounds on the road against a team ranked in the NSCAA/adidas Top 25.

            Franklin Pierce has gone winless in its first two home matches (0-1-1) for the first time since a six-match winless streak at home to start the 1989 campaign. The Ravens have gone winless in two-straight at home for the first time since back-to-back home draws to Merrimack College (1-1) and Bryant University (1-1) in 2002.

            Marcoccio’s winner came during a scramble in the Franklin Pierce penalty area as sophomore Ashley Hogan (South Hadley, Mass./South Hadley) drove into the area and had a pass deflected towards the center. Franklin Pierce junior goalkeeper Linnea Authier (East Longmeadow, Mass./East Longmeadow) charged off her line to clear it, but the ball found Marcoccio for an easy tip-in towards an open net at 89:24.            

The winner came less than three minutes after Franklin Pierce fought back from a 2-0 first half deficit when senior All-American Sonya Hughes (Balbriggan, Ireland) curled a free kick 22-yards out from the left channel into the upper right corner with 3:06 remaining in regulation.

            Senior All-American Laura Hislop (Belfast, Northern Ireland) cut the Greyhounds halftime advantage in half 10:36 into the second stanza when she pounced on a loose ball and fired it into the upper right corner from the left channel.

            Assumption held a 2-0 lead before the match was 24 minutes old. Marcoccio put the Greyhounds on the board 13:25 into the match with a penalty kick driven to the right side of Authier. Marcoccio was awarded the penalty when Authier shoved her with her back to goal during a scramble off a corner kick.

            Assumption doubled the lead when a long pass from the right flank by senior Amy Ryan (Northboro, Mass./Algonquin) was steered into an open net by Franklin Pierce freshman back Rebecca Westbury (Northbridge, Mass./Northbridge) for an own goal at 23:55. 

            Assumption sophomore Lauren Matysiak (Holden, Mass./Wachusett Regional), the reigning NE-10 Goalkeeper of the Year, finished with five saves, while Authier did not register a save as Franklin Pierce out-shot the Greyhounds, 14-4 (9-1 in the first half).

            Franklin Pierce (4-1-1, 2-1-1 NE-10) is back in action on Saturday when it visits Saint Anselm College at 2 p.m. Assumption (5-0, 3-0 NE-10) travels to American International College on Sunday at 1 p.m.

MATCH STATISTICS