Franklin Pierce University men's soccer
Photo credit: Paola Brena.

Second-Half Goals, Suffocating Defense Lift Men’s Soccer to 2-0 Victory over Stonehill

RINDGE, N.H. (October 26, 2019)- The Franklin Pierce University men's soccer team allowed just six shots, while the offense scored a pair of second-half goals in the Ravens' sixth win in seven games on Saturday afternoon at Sodexo Field. Second-half tallies from sophomore forward Isak Helgason (Kopavogur, Iceland) and junior forward Antonio Ferreira (Madrid, Spain) were the difference in a 2-0 win over Stonehill in Northeast-10 Conference play.

With the victory, Franklin Pierce improves to 10-3-1 (8-2-0 NE10) on the season, while Stonehill falls to 4-9-1 (2-6-1 NE10).

The Skyhawks would have the first good scoring opportunity of the contest, in the 24th minute, when freshman midfielder Michael Moylan and junior midfielder Michael McShane each had shots in front of the net that were sent back by graduate student goalkeeper Clay Thomas (Franklin, Tenn.). The second save went out of bounds giving Stonehill a corner kick, which found the head of senior back Daniel Pereira, but his header missed high. The Skyhawks would not take another shot in the first half.

The Ravens' best scoring chances of the first half would come in the final two minutes of the half. First, Helgason maneuvered through the defense, took a feed just outside the six-yard box and took a shot, but Skyhawks freshman goalkeeper Andrew Hammersley forced his shot wide right. A minute later, Ferreira fired a shot which deflected off a Stonehill defender and right to junior forward Yannik Felber (Vallendar, Germany), who got a good look in front of the net, but his shot hooked wide left.

Franklin Pierce outshot the Skyhawks 10-4 in the first half, with Hammersley recording five saves.

The Ravens would get on the board in the 62nd minute, when senior midfielder Niklas Laudahn (Olfen, Germany) passed across the top of the penalty box to Helgason, who fired a shot into the bottom right corner of the net for his first career goal.

Later, in the 70th minute, Ferreira would score his sixth goal of the season, as he gathered a feed from graduate student midfielder Javier Garcia Boras (Alzira, Spain), took a shot from the left side of the penalty box and tucked it in the far corner of the net.

Hammersley (4-7-0) finished with nine saves against 11 shots on goal in net for the Skyhawks.

Thomas (6-3-1) faced just four shots on goal for Franklin Pierce and stopped all four of them to record his fourth shutout of the season. Meanwhile, as a team the Ravens lowered their conference-best goals-against average to 0.68.

The Ravens return home on Saturday, Nov. 2, when they host Adelphi at 7 p.m. at Sodexo Field.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://fpuravens.com). 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 apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (https://fpuravens.com/store). You can also follow the men's soccer team on Twitter (https://twitter.com/fpumsoccer), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/fpumsoccer/) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/fpumsoccer/).