RINDGE, N.H. (April 15, 2021) -- Back on the field in a competitive setting for the first time in more than 17 months, the Franklin Pierce University women's soccer team opened its abbreviated spring schedule on Thursday night, amid some mid-April snowflakes at Sodexo Field. Sophomore Tess McKenzie (Warren, R.I.) found the net just 108 seconds into the proceedings to get the Ravens off on the right foot and on their way to a 3-2 victory over visiting American International.

With the win, Franklin Pierce opens its campaign at 1-0-0, while the Yellow Jackets fall to 1-1-0. The win marked the first victory as a Raven for new head coach Matt Johnson, who won 76 games at the helm of AIC from 2006 through 2013.

It did not take long for the Ravens to get things started on Thursday night. In just the second minute, sophomore Maria Pacheco Martinez (Bogota, Columbia) served the ball ahead from the midfield to McKenzie, who was just outside the top of the penalty area. With her back to the goal, McKenzie took one touch, then turned and volleyed the bouncing ball into the right side of the net to open the scoring.

AIC evened things up in the 24^th minute, as things got a bit sloppy in the Franklin Pierce defensive end. A collection of misplays left the ball and freshman Jordan Chatman relatively unattended at the left post. There was one Raven defender in the area, but she was also too late to the scene to put a stop to things, as Chatman ushered the ball into the yawning net.

The game went to halftime 1-1, before Franklin Pierce struck twice in a span of 15 minutes to take control of the game. In the 55^th minute, freshman Hailey Goodman (Blackstone, Mass.) put a shot home from 20 yards out in the middle of the field for her first collegiate goal. In the 70^th minute, the AIC defense misplayed the ball directly to the feet of junior Viridiana Vazquez Kloss (Veracruz, Mexico), just outside the top of the 18-yard box, on the left side. Kloss had plenty of room to work with, stepped into her shot and blasted it into the left side of the goal to make it 3-1.

The Yellow Jackets would cut the final deficit to 3-2, with a goal in the 82^nd minute. The Franklin Pierce defense returned the gift given to Vazquez Kloss, as they sent the ball straight to the feet of freshman Charlotte Bernard outside the top of the box, right in the middle of the field. Bernard fired from there and tucked her shot into the lower-left corner to cut the gap to one, but AIC was unable to find the equalizer over the final 8:03.

Freshman Kasey Donnelly (New Milford, Conn.) made two saves against four shots on goal to pick up her first career win (1-0-0) in front of the Franklin Pierce net. Sophomore Sierra Clark (1-1-0) stopped two of five shots at the other end in a losing effort for AIC.