Highlights

RINDGE, N.H. (October 3, 2017) – Returning home after a tough week on the road, the Franklin Pierce University women's soccer team struggled at times to generate offense on Tuesday night, but found enough to get the job done at Sodexo Field. Junior midfielder Bruna Tavares (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) set up fellow junior midfielder Nathalia Maria da Silva (Sao Paulo, Brazil) in the 33^rd minute, for what would stand as the game's only goal in a 1-0, Northeast-10 Conference win over Bentley.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 5-2-2 (4-2-2 NE10), while Bentley falls to 4-5-0 (2-5-0 NE10).

Before Franklin Pierce struck for the game's only goal, Bentley had a strong chance to open the scoring, in the 24^th minute. The Falcons surged out of the midfield with an odd-man rush and junior back Lauren Bean eventually worked the ball to sophomore back Sammy Millmann, who had open space on the left side. Millmann took a clear shot from about 15 yards in front of the left post, but Franklin Pierce senior goalkeeper Casey Cook (Beverly, Mass.) was able to get her hand to the ball and deflect it out of bounds to notch the save.

It would then be da Silva, in the 33^rd minute, who put away the game's only goal. With the ball deep on the right-wing side, sophomore forward Sophie Cousineau (Milton, Mass.) played it to the top corner of the penalty area for Tavares, who in turn centered for da Silva outside the top of the box. The latter took the ball in stride, touched to her left and fired a shot inside the left post for her fourth goal of the season, to tie for the team lead.

Bentley's best chance to equalize in the second half came late, in the 83^rd minute. This time, Bean found room to take the shot herself from within the penalty area, with the Franklin Pierce defense in a bit of a goalmouth scramble. Bean beat Cook with a shot towards the left post, but senior back Aimee Malboeuf (Cumberland, R.I.) was there to clear it off the line and away from danger to preserve the lead.

Cook (5-2-2) finished with three saves to notch her fourth shutout of the season, which was also the 18^th of her career. At the other end of the field, senior goalkeeper Deirdre Macrorie (4-5-0) made four saves against five shots on goal in the losing effort for Bentley.

The Ravens return to the field on Saturday, Oct. 7, when they remain home to host Merrimack in an NE10 contest. Opening kickoff is set for 7 p.m. 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 soccer apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).