Nov 23, 2005
By Susan Bickelhaupt, Globe Staff
Most colleges are happy to have one team going to the Final Four of an NCAA tournament. But Franklin Pierce has double reason to celebrate -- both the men's and women's soccer teams are headed to the Final Four next week in the NCAA Division 2 Tournament held at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas.
The Franklin Pierce women (19-1-2), ranked No. 4, will play No. 7 Nebraska-Omaha (18-2-0) Dec. 1 in the first semifinal match. The game will be a rematch of the 2002 semifinals, which Franklin Pierce lost.
The winner will face the winner of the second semifinal between No. 12 Carson-Newman (17-4-0) and No. 2 Seattle Pacific (19-0-4) for the national championship Dec. 3.
The men start play Dec. 2 with No. 15 Franklin Pierce (15-5-5) taking on No. 4 Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville (16-2-2). SIU reached the championship game last year, falling to Seattle.
The winner will face the winner of the second semifinal between No. 9 Lynn (Fla.) University (16-2-0) and No. 1 Fort Lewis (20-0-1) for the national championship Dec. 3.
While the Franklin Pierce women are making their record 13th Final Four appearance and the men are making their second trip, the teams have never advanced to the semifinals in the same year. The women are returning after a one-year hiatus that snapped a record streak of 12 straight appearances.
The men are making their first trip since 1981, long before coach Marco Koolman, now in his sixth year, took over.
The women are led by senior All-Americans Laura Hislap, from Belfast, and Sonya Hughes, of Balbriggan, Ireland, who are teammates on the Republic of Ireland women's national team. Hislop leads the Ravens with 23 goals and 12 assists, while Hughes has netted 13 goals and 8 assists.
Coach Jeff Bailey said his team deserves the almost two-week rest. ''I think we need the break," he said. ''A few days off is good for everybody. We've had some tough games."
For the men, All-America forward Christopher Joyce, from Jarrow, England, is the dominant force. He leads Division 2 with 64 points (28 goals to go with a team-best 8 assists). He is one goal shy of two-time All-American Bojan Vuckovic's season record of 29 set in 1992. Joyce has already set a school record with eight game-winning goals. ''He scores a lot of goals, and he's a great leader," said Koolman of the forward, who is a graduate student.
Sophomore goalkeeper James Thorpe, from East Longmeadow, led the Northeast-10 with an 0.80 goals-against average and 10 shutouts.
''We'll practice a lot, then give the kids a couple days off for Thanksgiving to eat some turkey, then they come back on Sunday to practice some more, then we fly to Texas on Wednesday," Koolman said.
