2004 NCAA DIVISION II NEW ENGLAND REGIONAL Franklin Pierce Upends #11 UMass Lowell, 3-0
Ravens post first NCAA Tournament win since 1994, face #3 Southern Connecticut Sunday at 1 p.m.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (November 12, 2004) - Second-seeded Franklin Pierce breezed to a 3-0 victory over third-seeded and No. 11-ranked UMass Lowell in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Tournament this evening at Jess Dow Field on the campus of Southern Connecticut State University.
Franklin Pierce (16-5-1), which collected its first NCAA Tournament victory since 1994 - snapping a streak of six-straight defeats dating back to a 5-4 triple overtime victory over LIU-C.W. Post, advances to Sunday's New England Regional final against top-seeded and No. 3-ranked Southern Connecticut State at 1p.m. UMass Lowell sees its season come to a close with a record of 15-3-2.
Franklin Pierce grad student Christopher Joyce (Jarrow, England) netted two goals and senior midfielder Troy McColl (Sydney, Australia) added a goal and assist to lead the offensive attack.
Freshman goalkeeper James Thorpe (East Longmeadow, Mass./Bridgton Academy) made six saves to preserve his program-record 14th shutout of the season. For the second time this season, Thorpe broke the program record for scoreless minutes as he enters Sunday's match having not yielded a goal in his last 539:30 in the Ravens goal, surpassing his streak of 518:38 earlier this season. The Ravens also added to their team record with their 16th clean sheet of the year.
Joyce got things going early for Franklin Pierce, as he headed a McColl free kick past UMass Lowell goalkeeper Bobby Ritter (North Andover, Mass./North Andover) just 38 seconds into the match. The goal was the Ravens first against the River Hawks in over 333 minutes dating back to a 3-2 victory over UML during the regular season last fall.
McColl put Franklin Pierce up a pair in the 48th minute on another free kick from 30 yards out on the right side. The Ravens iced the match 7:33 later when grad student Craig Stewart (Newcastle Upon Tyne, England) sent a pass up the left side to Joyce, who worked a give and go with a streaking Jason Grier (Norwell, Mass./Norwell) to score his Northeast-10 Conference leading 20th goal of the season.
Ritter took the loss despite saving four shots for UMass Lowell, who was outshot 9-7 on the night.