Appah’s Five-Point Night Leads Men’s Soccer to 4-1 Win Over Bentley

Cortijo, Preber score as well

RINDGE, N.H. (September 30, 2014) – Graduate student midfielder Quincy Appah (Accra, Ghana) scored twice, including the game-winner, and added an assist to tally five points on Tuesday night and lead the Franklin Pierce University men's soccer team to a 4-1 win over Bentley in Northeast-10 Conference play at Sodexo Field. Sophomore midfielder Brett Ripperger scored the lone goal in defeat for Bentley.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 4-3-1 (2-2-1 Northeast-10), while Bentley falls to 2-6-1 (1-4-1 Northeast-10).

Franklin Pierce scored early and often in the first half en route to a 3-1 halftime lead. Each of the first two goals came in the fifth minute, as the Ravens quickly struck for a 2-0 lead. First, 4:01 into the proceedings, Appah took the ball into the penalty area on the left side. He sent a cross along the ground into the middle of the box, which appeared to go behind its intended target, but junior midfielder Lorris Cortijo (Paris, France) was able to track it down as the trailer on the play. Cortijo found space to unleash a shot, which he placed in the upper-left corner to score his second goal of the season.

Just 44 seconds later, Appah would strike for the first of his two goals on the night. This time it was graduate student midfielder David Magee who brought the ball into the box along the endline on the left side. He centered the ball to Appah, who was 10 yards out in front of the left post, and Appah sent a shot inside the far post to finish off his second goal of the campaign.

Appah would strike again in the 18th minute to finish off his five-point night and push the lead as high as 3-0. This time, the goal came off an individual effort in the left-wing side of the penalty area. He used some fancy footwork to elude a pair of Bentley defenders and sent a shot across the goalmouth which tucked inside the right post to give Appah his first multiple-goal game as a Raven.

Bentley got on the board with its only score of the night in the 30th minute, after a foul in the box led to a penalty kick for junior forward and co-captain Scott Levy. Franklin Pierce freshman goalkeeper Jordan LeGuyader (Jersey, United Kingdom) was able to save the penalty diving to his right, but he was unable to hold the shot. Ripperger was the first man on the scene and put away the rebound for his first goal of the season.

Franklin Pierce added a second-half insurance marker in the 51st minute. Junior forward Marius Preber (Jessheim, Norway) had the ball outside the box, approximately 20 yards from goal on the left side and caught Bentley junior goalkeeper Jack Blatchford off his line. Preber was able to chip the ball over the reach of Blatchford and slip it under the crossbar for his second goal of the year to cap the scoring.

Bentley held a 7-6 edge in shot attempts in the first half, but Franklin Pierce dominated the run of play over the second 45 minutes. The Ravens piled up a 12-0 advantage in shot attempts in the second half en route to a 12-3 margin in shots on goal over the full 90 minutes.

LeGuyader finished with two saves, one of which came on the penalty kick, to pick up the win (4-1-1) in net for Franklin Pierce. Blatchford suffered the loss (2-6-1), as he played the first 80:50 in net for Bentley and made seven saves against 11 shots on goal, while his backline added a team save as well. Junior Ryota Nault logged the final 9:10, but did not face a shot.

The Ravens return to the field on Saturday, Oct. 4, when they remain home to host Le Moyne in a Northeast-10 Conference contest. Kickoff is set for noon at Sodexo Field.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce men's soccer apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).