Field Hockey turns their attention to the postseason
by Rich Raymond
Field Hockey concluded the regular season in a big way Wednesday night with a victory over Southern Connecticut State University 4-2 and now has their eye on the postseason.
Junior Tia Levins scored her 12th goal of the year and now stands alone in the record books as the single season goal scorer. Kayla Simeone scored twice and Kim Jaksina chipped in another goal as well.
After the victory Wednesday night, The Ravens moved themselves into a three-way tie for fourth place with a 6-4 record in the NorthEast-10 along with Southern Connecticut State University and Adelphi. Later that night, the NE-10 conference commissioner drew a schools name out of a hat as the way of a tiebreaker and the fourth place winner was Adelphi.
The Ravens will travel to American International College next Tuesday November 16th and if the Ravens earn a victory there, they will travel to UMass Lowell where the Ravens would play Stonehill.
The Field Hockey team finished the season 9-9 overall and has won their last three games. The Ravens nine wins this season matches their win total from last season. The Ravens are now competing for their first playoff win in school history when they take on AIC next Tuesday.
Franklin Pierce basketball takes on Uconn
by Rich Raymond
In an exhibition match-up last Thursday night, the Women’s basketball team traveled to Storrs, Connecticut to play a preseason game against the #1 ranked Uconn Huskies.
Franklin Pierce fought valiantly, but was defeated 112-41. The score was not the most important storyline of this game. The relevance of this game was that the recent success of the women’s basketball team from the previous three years allowed for this game to take place. The Ravens have reached the Elite Eight for Division II the past three years, while making the final four twice.
The Ravens lost a key part of the offense when Johannah Leedham graduated last spring and is now currently playing basketball overseas. Leedham was a big contributor to the success of the team over the past few years. Newcomers to the team will have big shoes to fill, but are still poised to be extremely competitive in the NorthEast-10 Conference.
The Uconn Huskies are coming off another Division I Championship for the second consecutive year and have not lost a regular season game in their last 78 match-ups. The Huskies last loss came against Stanford in the 2008 Women’s Final Four. The Huskies are led by Senior and preseason All-American Maya Moore.
Gampel Pavilion collected close to 5,000 fans that night which helped contribute to an excellent electric atmosphere. Franklin Pierce students and parents also made the trip down from Rindge as well. “It was awesome watching our girls play against a powerhouse like Uconn. It was sad that we lost, but they showed a lot of heart not quitting out there,” said senior Janelle Gillingham who was in attendance that night.
Before the game, Franklin Pierce Head Coach Steve Hancock and Uconn Head Coach Geno Auriema met on the sidelines and conversed for several minutes. As for the actual game itself, the Huskies demonstrated why they are the reigning Division I champs. Leading the way for the Ravens that night was sophomore guard Tiffany Johnson who scored eight points and dished out three assists. The Ravens however were not at full strength Thursday night as seniors Cynthia Gaudet and Tori Ahrens did not start as they both are recovering from injuries.
“Being able to play against a team like Uconn really shows you what hard work and determination is all about,” said Tiffany Johnson. The Ravens will be able to use this game as a benchmark for the rest of the season as their regular season gets under November 13 against Molloy.
Women's Volleyball downed by American International on Dig Pink Night
by Rich Raymond
The Women’s Volleyball team holds it’s first Dig Pink event under Coach Stephanie Dragan in support of breast cancer awareness as the team falls short to American International College 3-1.
American International won the first, third, and fourth set to take the victory away from Franklin Pierce on their home court in the Fieldhouse. Standout players for AIC were Ellisha Terry and Kervelle Redhead as Lauren Miller was a standout player for Franklin Pierce with a double-double.
The Lady Ravens collected and donated $789 for the Side Out Foundation’s Dig Pink Event. The Lady Ravens finished with 80 digs on the night as each dig recorded donated money towards the foundation.
The Women’s Volleyball team falls to 9-9 overall and 3-8 in NorthEast-10 Conference play. AIC improves to 17-11 overall and 8-4 in the NE-10.
As of before the game on Wednesday, the Lady Ravens were 12th in the conference and to qualify for the NE-10 conference playoffs, the Ravens will have to finish no lower than 8th in the conference. The Ravens have six matches left in the regular season, four of which are against conference foes. To make the playoffs, the Lady Ravens are going to need to win those four conference games and possibly need some losses from the higher seeds to qualify.
Do not count this Lady Raven team out as if anyone who has watched them play this season, they will outwork any team on the court on a given night.
Franklin pushes team to second straight win
by Rich Raymond
The Women’s soccer team gets back on track with their second straight win with a victory over American International College to improve to 9-3-1 overall.
Shona Franklin scored the lone goal in the contest as it was her sixth on the season and fifth game-winning goal on the year as well. Franklin is second on the team with goals scored, trailing Junior Amanda Panaro who has 13 goals on the season.
“The past two games we are finally playing up to the intensity and standard that coach has been asking of us,” said Franklin. Before the Lady Ravens defeated Pace and AIC in back to back shutouts, the women’s soccer team lost to Merrimack and Adelphi.
The Lady Ravens are currently 7-3-1 in the NorthEast-10 Conference and are ranked third behind Merrimack and top ranked and undefeated Saint Rose. There are four games remaining on the schedule for the women’s soccer team, but none bigger than the game against Saint Rose on October 23rd. It will be the final home game of the season for the Lady Ravens.
The NE-10 tournament will begin Sunday, October 31st and the team with finishes first in the conference (with field lights) will host the tournament.
Shona Franklin's goal pushes team to victory
by Richard Raymond
The Franklin Pierce Women’s soccer team gets back on track with a win over Bentley this past Tuesday after suffering a loss and a tie in their previous two contests.
“It was really important for us to get the win after falling to Southern New Hampshire. It can help turn our season back around in a positive direction,” said Senior Shona Franklin. The Women’s soccer team had a hard fought game against Saint Michael’s Purple Knights last Wednesday night at Sodexho Field, but ended up with a tie after two overtimes were needed.
The next game for the Lady Ravens took place last Saturday afternoon at Southern New Hampshire University in which the Ravens were defeated 1-0 in regulation time. Southern New Hampshire University is a NorthEast-10 Conference foe and gave the Ravens their first conference loss on the season.
This past Tuesday, the Lady Ravens took the field against Bentley looking to right the ship and get their season back on track. An early goal from Senior Shona Franklin set the tone early for the game and the team carried the momentum throughout the rest of the game to win 1-0. The Ravens improve to 5-1-1 overall and 3-1-1 in NE-10 conference play.
The Women’s soccer team is back in action home against Assumption this Sunday afternoon at 1P.M.
Soccer continues undefeated streak
by Richard Raymond
The Franklin Pierce Lady Ravens Soccer team stayed undefeated as they improved to 4-0 on the season with a win over Le Moyne this past weekend.
“After traveling 6 hours on a coach bus, we really wanted to just get up there put the game away,” said Junior Goalkeeper Jocelyn Leon. The Lady Ravens were stagnant in the first half as the wind played a huge factor and did not allow either team to get anything going offensively. “The second half came around and it was extremely noticeable how much that wind helped after we switched sides,” said Leon.
Leon could not be any more right as within less than two minutes in the start of the second half the Lady Ravens put the ball in the back of the net and did not look back from there. The first goal and the last goal was scored by Junior Amanda Panaro, her 6th and 7th on the season. The second goal was scored by freshman Joanna Gibson, the first of her collegiate career. Junior Goalkeeper Leon also posted her 3rd shutout on the season on Saturday as well. “It’s really a team effort keeping that shut out back there. My defense takes care of me so I don’t have to do much work back there,” stated Leon.
The Lady Ravens have done an excellent job on both sides of the ball, outscoring their opponents 12-2 and have yet to allow a goal by a NorthEast-10 Conference foe.
The Women’s Soccer team looks to keep the undefeated start to the season going this coming Wednesday as they prepare to face conference rival St. Michaels.
Volleyball Preview
By Rich Raymond
Entering into her second season as the head coach of the Women’s Franklin Pierce Volleyball, Coach Stephanie Dragan has raised her expectations for this year’s team.
“We set team goals at the beginning of the season to qualify for the NorthEast-10 and to do that we have to finish in the top 8 in the conference,” said Coach Dragan. Franklin Pierce was selected to finish 12th in the coaches preseason poll, but is already off to a great start on the season as they won two of three games this past weekend. The two wins came in straight sets against Bowie State and Felician while the loss came against Millersive, also in straight sets.
This season’s team will be different from others in the past because this year the team will rely mainly on the freshman class as six seniors graduated from last year’s squad. The key players to look for on the court this season according to Coach Dragan are Senior Captain Pamela Walker, Freshmen Ashley Bruce, Katie Jackson, and Lauren Miller.
Coming into this season, Coach Dragan’s team lost a lot of height with the key losses of Katie Ristow and Megan Feldmeth, so this offseason Dragan’s focus was on conditioning. “We are not a very tall team, so we need to be quick to the ball and out hustle the other team on the court,” said Coach Dragan. “Conditioning is also a key factor for us this season because we don’t have a lot of depth off the bench in the attacking position. We have plenty of players on defense, so working on getting to the ball and being efficient is key,” stated Coach Dragan.
Now that the team is already off to a 2-1 start on the season, the team has marked a few dates on the schedule as important games for them; September 22nd against Saint Michaels, October 2nd versus Southern Connecticut State University, and Pierce Pride Night on October 20th against Stonehill.
“We have a lot of fun together as a team. We worked hard on and off the court and it makes my job really enjoyable,” said Coach Dragan
Fireworks cap off first successful Pierce Pride Weekend
By Rich Raymond
The fireworks display last Saturday night capped off a great opening weekend for Pierce Pride Night as both Men’s and Women’s Soccer teams won their respective games to improve to 2-0 on the season.
In the first game of Pierce Pride Night, the Lady Ravens defeated Felician 6-2 and leading the way with a hat trick was Junior forward Amanda Panaro. When asked about the game atmosphere Panaro said, “It was great to see so many people out for the entire day; not only other student-athletes, but students, faculty, and people from the community as well.”
Panaro was not the only player with a career game on Saturday as Freshman Margret Thorolfsdottier and Sophomore Casey Edward each scored their first collegiate goal over the weekend.
Later that night, the Men’s Soccer team downed Molloy 3-0 with excellent play on both sides of the ball. Junior Goalkeeper Vinny Papageorgiou recorded his first shutout of the season as he recorded three saves on net. The defense by the Ravens allowed Papageorgiou to have a strong game in net.
Scoring for the Ravens on offense was Marc Santos, Victor Goncalves, and Jeff Hay. Contributing with the lone assist on the day was Paul Latif. Latif commented on the team’s performance after the game and said that, “it was great to pick up the second win of the season and even more pleasing to keep a clean sheet at the back. That is credit to the defense and a good overall team performance.”
During half time of the men’s soccer game, the new and improved Rocky the Raven was out amongst the fans in attendance on Saturday night. The new mascot, who calls himself, Rocky II, was sporting a fierce look to go along with a buff upper body.
At the end of the Men’s Soccer game, Atlas Pyrotechnics provided a fireworks show that was set off from the hill above Sodexho Field. Close too 300 people were in attendance to witness the fireworks which could be seen from anywhere on campus.
The next home game for the Lady Ravens will be Saturday, September 10th, as they take on University of New Haven and Thursday, September 22nd, for the Men’s Soccer team when they will face Le Moyne.
