SEATTLE, Washington (12/1/22) – One last hurdle remains for the top-ranked Franklin Pierce University men's soccer team, who advanced to the NCAA Championship Final Round following their decisive 5-2 victory over fourth-ranked Lake Erie College at Interbay Stadium on Thursday afternoon. The semifinal round win comes as the first since the 2007 campaign, as they continue their chase for their second national title in program history which also dates back to the same season.

The Ravens remain unbeaten on the 2022 slate, and will head to the title round with a 24-0-1 record. Lake Erie heads home and closes their respective season with a 12-8-5 record.

Franklin Pierce will face the winner of Thursday evening's No. 2 Colorado State University-Pueblo versus No. 3 Barry University in the title match, which is scheduled for Saturday, December 3^rd at 3:00 p.m. EST.

The Ravens found their chances early in the first half, but found themselves face to face with an ungenerous Storm defense, limiting Pierce to just 2 shots on goal through the first 30 minutes. However, Franklin Pierce would eventually strike first in the 31^st minute after sophomore Braudilio Rodrigues (Lisbon, Portugal) sent a cross pass to senior Younes Addar (Castellon, Spain), sending a shot past the Storm netminder for his 13^th goal of the year. Six minutes later, the lead would be stretch to 2-0 on a strike from graduate Marc Lopez (Valencia, Spain) with the assists going to Addar and junior defender Bernardo Prego (Evora, Potugal). The Raven lead would hold through to halftime.

Lake Erie's Connor Mautino would break the shutout bid for Franklin Pierce just over four minutes into the bottom half, but the Raven offense would continue to apply pressure with three unanswered goals. The first came just a minute after the Storm cut the deficit to 2-1, with graduate Javier Gutierrez (Asturias, Spain) catching a feed from junior Vicente Valor Martinez (San Juan, Spain). In the 58^th minute, Gutierrez would strike again with his second of the contest, pushing the Raven lead to 4-1. Following a final goal in the 74^th minute from Miguel Angel Pastor Gutierrez (Valencia, Spain), Lake Erie would find their way back onto the scoreboard on a goal from Teddy Baker, but would be unable to pull any closer.  

Senior goalkeeper Javier Torres (Asturias, Spain) claimed the win in goal for Pierce, turning away one on three shots faced. For Lake Erie, starting goalkeeper Tomas Wroblewski made six saves on 11 shots faced.

As has been the case throughout the season, the Ravens emerged victorious with overwhelming performances in all field categories, continuing to defeat opponents with explosive offense and limiting defense. Through the full 90-minutes played, Franklin Pierce finished with a 19-7 shots advantage over the Storm, in addition to a 4-2 edge in corner kicks.