NORTHEAST-10 TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP #4 Franklin Pierce Wins First Tournament Title via Shootout
Top-seeded Ravens edge second-seeded Southern Connecticut State, 6-5, in penalty shootout after two nationally-ranked teams play to scoreless draw Thorpe named Tournament MVP after making one save for 11th shutout of season.
RINDGE, N.H. (October 29, 2006) - Top-seeded Franklin Pierce, ranked No. 4 in this week's National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas Division II poll, captured its first Northeast-10 Conference men's soccer tournament championship with a 6-5 penalty shootout decision after playing to a scoreless draw with second-seeded and No. 13-ranked Southern Connecticut State University at Sodexho Field this evening.
Junior All-America goalkeeper James Thorpe (East Longmeadow, Mass./Bridgton Academy) was named the NE-10 Tournament MVP as he improved to 5-1 over his Franklin Pierce career in penalty shootouts and made one save over regulation and overtime to collect his 11th shutout of the season (36th career).
Both teams converted in the first five rounds of the shootout. However, in the sixth, Southern Connecticut sophomore DJordjie Jankovic (Skola, Serbia) pulled his kick wide of the net with Thorpe moving the other way. Franklin Pierce senior back Andre Elphic (St. Catherines, Jamaica/Springfield Gardens (N.Y.)) then buried his attempt to give the Ravens their first NE-10 Tournament title after serving as runners up over the last two seasons.
Southern junior goalkeeper Brendan Lawless (Orleans, Mass./Nauset Regional) made four saves to preserve his 11th shutout of the season.
Franklin Pierce enjoyed a 10-4 advantage in shots for the match (4-0 in the first half), but it was Southern Connecticut who had the best scoring chance of the match. Sophomore forward Colin Jackson (Hartford, Conn./Wolmer's Boy's) had a sitter from just outside the six carom off the right post 2:24 into the second half with Thorpe fully committed on the left post.
Lawless stopped Franklin Pierce grad student David Clifton (London, England) from just inside the 18, 9:14 into the match. The Ravens also notched the lone shot of both overtime sessions as sophomore Raphael Guimaraes (Marlborough, Mass./Ashland) sent a volley from ten yards in the right channel that just carried over the crossbar in the 102nd minute.
Franklin Pierce (16-1-3, 11-1-1 NE-10) and Southern Connecticut (15-2-3, 10-2-1 NE-10) will likely be the top two seeds when the NCAA Championship Selection Committee announces its bids on Monday evening.