Honors for Franklin Pierce Pair

Demoner, Goncalves earn Northeast-10 weekly awards

October 28, 2008

Franklin Pierce University All-American Gabriela Demoner was named the Northeast-10 Conference’s women’s soccer Player of the Week.

Demoner, who earns the award for the first time this season (ninth career), led Franklin Pierce to a pair of key wins with two goals and an assist for five points as she netted the match-winning goal in each victory.

She scored the lone goal of the match just 2:58 into the contest to lead the Ravens to a 1-0 victory over No. 21 Merrimack College in a battle between two of the top three teams in the NE-10 standings on Saturday afternoon. She posted a goal and an assist in Tuesday’s 4-1 win at Bentley College, scoring what would prove to be the match-winning goal in the 38th minute.

Demoner has appeared in 14 of Franklin Pierce’s 16 matches this season, starting 13, and leads the team with eight assists to go with six goals for 20 points (seventh in NE-10). She has collected two goals and two assists for six points over the Ravens’ last three matches.

In her third year for Franklin Pierce, Demoner has appeared in 58 matches (57 starts) and ranks among career leaders in program history with 130 points (ninth) on 49 goals (eighth) and 32 assists (12th). Her 12 career match-winning goals currently ranks seventh all-time.

Demoner has twice earned first team All-America honors and was selected as the Daktronics Northeast Region Player of the Year and NE-10 Player of the Year in 2007.

Franklin Pierce (12-3-1, 10-2-1 NE-10), ranked 15th in last week’s National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas Division II poll and second in the East Region, is just one win from claiming its sixth NE-10 regular season championship. The Ravens close out the regular season on Wednesday when it visits Stonehill College for a makeup game at 3:30 p.m.

A win would also clinch the top seed in the upcoming NE-10 Tournament which kicks off with quarterfinal round action on Sunday, Nov. 2, (time/opponent TBA).

On the men’s side, forward Viktor Gonçalves (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) has been named the Northeast-10 Conference’s Freshman of the Week.

Gonçalves, who earlier this season earned Player and Freshman of the Week honors in the NE-10, scored two goals for four points in a 2-0 week for Franklin Pierce. Both goals came in Saturday’s key 2-1 victory at Merrimack College, ranked seventh in the East Region, to put the Ravens back in the thick of the NE-10’s regular season title chase.

Gonçalves leveled the match in the 30th minute after Merrimack had taken an early lead eight minutes in. He netted the winning goal in the 54th minute.

Gonçalves leads the Northeast-10 with 11 goals to go with four assists for a team-best 26 points (second in NE-10) in 18 matches in his first collegiate season. He also leads the NE-10 with four match-winning goals.

Franklin Pierce (11-6-1, 9-2-1 NE-10) can still claim a fourth-straight Northeast-10 regular season championship beginning with a win in Wednesday’s regular season finale at American International College at Lusitano Stadium in Ludlow, Mass., at 7 p.m.

If the Ravens win and Umass-Lowell knocks off Southern New Hampshire University in Lowell that night, the Ravens would clinch the title outright. If the Ravens win and Umass-Lowell and Southern New Hampshire finish in a tie, the Ravens would share the regular season crown, but SNHU would earn the top seed in the upcoming NE-10 Tournament as a result of its 2-1 victory over Franklin Pierce two weeks ago.

Regardless of the result, Franklin Pierce will host an NE-10 quarterfinal match on Sunday at Sodexo Field (opponent/time, TBA).