Bryant Ends Franklin Pierce's Reign

Ends Seven Year Run of Northeast-10 Titles

November 2, 2007

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – For the first time since 1999, the Northeast-10 Conference Women’s Soccer Tournament will have a different champion.

Bryant ensured as much when the Bulldogs downed seven-time champs Franklin Pierce, 7-6, on penalty kicks after the two sides played to a scoreless draw in the Division II semifinal.

Franklin Pierce had won ever NE-10 Championship since joining the conference prior to the 2000 season. Bryant (17-0-5, 11-0-3 NE-10) advances to the NE-10 Championship match for the second-straight season and will face top-seeded and No. 3-ranked College of Saint Rose (17-0-2, 12-0-2 NE-10) on Sunday.

After the two sides played through 110 scoreless minutes, Bryant and Franklin Pierce traded goals through the first six rounds of the penalty shootout. In the seventh round, Bryant senior Stephanie Zalewski converted her kick, but Franklin Pierce sophomore Shannon Mulvey (Worcester, Mass./Burncoat) saw her shot tipped over the crossbar by sophomore goalkeeper Katie Mitchell, sending the Bulldogs through to the championship match.

Mitchell was only in the shootout after replacing junior starter Jessica Clark (Barnstable, Mass./Barnstable). Clark did make six saves over the 110-minutes of play to preserve her eighth shutout of the season.

Franklin Pierce junior Brittany Ester posted her seventh shutout of the season with a season-high eight stops. She got a hand to two of Bryant’s attempts in the shootout, but just unable to keep them out of the net.

The match was fairly even throughout, with Franklin Pierce posting a 13-12 edge in shots for the match – 7-2 in the first half. Bryant began to exert some pressure late, especially in overtime where the Bulldogs posted a 5-1 edge in shots. The Ravens forced Clark into three first half saves – all coming in the first 11 minutes of the match.

Ester came up big in the first overtime, stopping a one-on-one attempt from senior Diane Pascale (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth South) after a Raven defender lost her footing. The Bulldogs had two shots carom off posts in the second overtime. The first came just moments after Ester made two saves on shots from sophomore Holly Tyser (Somers, Conn./Somers) midway through the frame, with the other coming with less than a minute left.

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