Sept. 13, 2011

Box Score

Junior B Tyler Rosa scored the game-winning goal in the second minute of double overtime to lead No. 9 Franklin Pierce over UMass Lowell, 2-1, Tuesday night in a Northeast-10 Conference men’s soccer clash at Sodexho Field.

With the loss, UMass Lowell slipped to 1-3-0 overall and 1-1-0 in the NE-10 entering Saturday’s home opener against Assumption College (3:00).

The loss was also the second time in as many matches that UMass Lowell went down in double overtime. On Saturday, UMass Lowell conceded a goal with two minutes left in the second overtime in a 3-2 loss at Bridgeport.

Perhaps worse, UMass Lowell enjoyed a 1-0 lead until Franklin Pierce leveled with 35 seconds left in regulation.

“We managed the game right up until the end,” said head coach Christian Figueroa. (Franklin Pierce) is a very good team. I thought we had a good run at them for a while.

“After the match I told them that we need to be smarter,” Figueroa added. “We need to understand what to do in certain situations. There was nothing unlucky about this game. Just poor management on our end.”

Franklin Pierce improved to 4-0-0 overall and 1-0-0 in the Conference.

Franklin Pierce had a 14-13 edge on total shots, but the River Hawks kept Raven goalkeeper Vinny Papageorgiou on edge with an 8-3 advantage on shots on target.

The River Hawks opened the scoring in the 46th minute when junior M Bruno Bonicontro (Marlborough, Mass.) launched a corner kick to the foot of sophomore M Daniel Galvin (Attleboro, Mass.), who finished to Papageorgiou’s left side nicely.

“Bruno put in a good ball,” Figueroa said. “We had good runs by several guys and Dan hit a good shot to the goalkeeper’s left.”

The goal marked the second time UMass Lowell’s midfield duo has successfully connected this season.

Galvin nearly doubled the score in the 58th minute when his attempt from the top of the box caromed off the post.

“I think we’re taking steps in the right direction,” Figueroa said. “I think we’re playing at a higher level and showing we can play with some of the better teams in our region.”

The Ravens plied on the pressure in the final minutes with three corners and three shot attempts. On their final rush up field, junior M Marc Santos steered a cross to graduate B Daniel Donaldson who headed home to force extra time.

Franklin Pierce took advantage of its first corner of the second overtime as senior M Paul Latif found the head of Rosa for the game-winner.

Sophomore G Chris Maierle (Wantagh, N.Y.) had one save for the River Hawks while Papageorgiou stopped seven shots for Franklin Pierce.