River Hawks Stun No. 6 Franklin Pierce, 3-2

Tuesday, September 11

Lowell, MA

7:00 PM

University of Massachusetts Lowell

3-0-1, 2-0-0NE-10

Franklin Pierce University

2-1-0, 0-1-0NE-10

Team	1	2	Final F
Franklin Pierce	1	1	2
UMass Lowell	2	1	3

Sophomore M Homero Morais clashes with Franklin Pierce goalkeeper Jake Wright in the second half.

Photo by: Bob Ellis

River Hawks Stun No. 6 Franklin Pierce, 3-2

9/11/2012 10:33:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

UMass Lowell capitalizes off set pieces; at Assumption Saturday

UMass Lowell received goals from three different players and capitalized on two restarts as it defeated No. 6 Franklin Pierce, 3-2, Tuesday night in a Northeast-10 Conference men's soccer clash at Cushing Field.

With the win, UMass Lowell remains unbeaten at 3-0-1 overall and 2-0-0 in the NE-10 entering Saturday's match at Assumption.

Franklin Pierce slipped to 2-1-0 overall and 0-1-0 in the Conference and hosts No. 3 Southern New Hampshire Saturday at 7:00.

The victory snapped Franklin Pierce's streak of 30 consecutive matches unbeaten (28-0-2) dating back to Sept. 10, 2010, which ironically began with a 2-0 victory over the River Hawks at Cushing Field. It also halted a string of 34 straight NE-10 regular season wins for the Ravens dating back to the 2009 season.

Sophomore M Homero Morais (Somerville, Mass.) scored his first goal of the season in the 25^th minute off nice work from junior F Dan Galvin (Attleboro, Mass.) and junior B Neil Lavanchy (Scituate, Mass.). Lavanchy fed a ball into the top of the box where Galvin touched nicely to Morais, who settled and blasted inside the left post.

The River Hawks doubled their lead in the 38^th minute following a foul on the right channel just outside the corner of the box. Sophomore M Felipe Fagundes (Lowell, Mass.) steered the left-footed kick off a bounce inside the far post.

Franklin Pierce, however, was never out of resources and cut the lead in half in the 42^nd minute. Graduate B Tom Leaver fed a ball into the box to senior M Amory Houghton, whose header went over the grasp of junior GK Chris Maierle (Wantagh, N.Y.) and Lavanchy, who nearly cleared off the line.

The River Hawks snatched a 3-1 lead in the 55^th minute off another set piece. Junior M Kevin Zapata (East Bridgewater, Mass.) steered a free kick from the left flank to junior M Kyle Garvan (Braintree, Mass.), who freed himself and headed inside the left post.

Five minutes later, UMass Lowell nearly put the match away on a counterattack that ended with senior M Bruno Bonicontro (Marlboro, Mass.) ringing the crossbar from the top of the box.

The Ravens continued to create chances and inched closer in the 69^th. Houghton crossed from the left side to senior F Greg Giguere who headed to unmarked junior F Gareth Dudney, who finished with emphasis from inside the top of the box.

Maierle, who had three saves, was at his best in the 79^th when he gloved a long-range attempt from Giguere over the bar.

Franklin Pierce nearly leveled in the 87^th when graduate M Terrence Ciavarra took a pass from a free kick and hit the left post.

Franklin Pierce had a 12-10 edge on overall shots while UMass Lowell had a 6-5 advantage on target. Graduate GK Jake Wright had three saves for the Ravens.