Thorpe Named NSCAA/adidas Division II Player of the Year

East Longmeadow, Mass., native second student-athlete in program
history to earn National Player of the Year recognition

RINDGE, N.H. (January 3, 2008) – Franklin Pierce University senior All-America goalkeeper James Thorpe (East Longmeadow, Mass./Bridgton Academy) has been named the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas NCAA Division II men’s soccer Player of the Year. Thorpe will be recognized at the NSCAA National Convention in Baltimore, Md., later this month.

Thorpe is the second student-athlete in Franklin Pierce men’s soccer program history to earn National Player of the Year, joining former teammate Christopher Joyce – who collected the award in 2005. Thorpe joins Joyce and former women’s soccer National Players of the Year Ewa Bergsten (1992), Nathalie Geeris (1994), Pauliina Auveri (1997) and Laura Hislop (2003), who all collected NSCAA Division II Women’s Player of the Year honors. He is also just the third NSCAA/adidas men’s soccer Player of the Year in Northeast-10 Conference history, joining Joyce and former Southern New Hampshire University standout Mounir Tajiou (2003).

Thorpe, the first three-time All-America selection in program history, is also a four-time first team All-New England selection and the first four-time NE-10 Goalkeeper of the Year in Conference history. A first team All-America selection this fall, after earning second team honors in 2006 and third team in 2005, he is also a four-time All-NE-10 first team pick. Thorpe was also recently recognized with an NCAA Institutional Sportsmanship Award.

Thorpe earned Most Outstanding Defensive Player honors at the NCAA Division II Final Four, leading Franklin Pierce to its first National Championship. He didn’t concede a goal in 200 minutes of action, also notching two stops in a penalty shootout victory over 7th-ranked Midwestern State University in the semifinals after the two sides played to a scoreless draw in which Thorpe made six saves. He made one save to preserve the Ravens 1-0 victory over 16th-ranked Lincoln Memorial University in the final.

Thorpe led the NE-10 during his senior season with 12 shutouts, while his 0.63 goals against average ranked second (10th nationally) and his .786 save percentage ranked fourth while playing all 2,154:16 in the Ravens goal this season. In Conference play, Thorpe posted a Conference-low 0.52 GAA with a Conference-best eight shutouts to go with a .816 save percentage (2nd).

Thorpe has wrapped up a four-year career in which he has nearly completely re-written the Franklin Pierce goalkeeping record books. He set an NCAA record for all divisions with his 8,391-minutes, 11-seconds, in goal over 93 career matches played, while his program and Northeast-10 record 49 shutouts are just one shy of the NCAA Division II mark. Thorpe’s 0.66 career goals against average shattered the program record and set a new NE-10 standard, while his .811 career save percentage is good for second in program history. The Ravens posted an 82-16-17 record over four years with him in goal, including a 41-4-5 mark in Conference play – going 28-0-5 over his final 33 regular season matches in the NE-10.

Thorpe established himself as a premier shot stopper, posting an incredible 6-1 record over his career in penalty shootouts – winning his last six decisions. He stopped 17 penalty kicks in all over his four-year career, including those in matches and shootouts.

Thorpe, who recently completed a successful appearance at the United Soccer League Showcase last month, also holds program records for shutouts in a season (14, 2004), single season goals against average (0.45, 2006) and consecutive shutout minutes (578:52, 2004). He appeared in the “Faces in the Crowd” section of the December 13, 2004 issue of Sports Illustrated. Thorpe earned Goalkeeper of the Week honors in the NE-10 on 20 occasions and Player of the Week four times over his career.

Franklin Pierce (17-2-4, 11-0-2 NE-10) captured its first National Championship in program history this fall, posting a 1-0 victory over Lincoln Memorial on December 2 in Orange Beach, Ala. The Ravens also collected their third-straight Northeast-10 regular season title before earning their fifth-straight NCAA Tournament berth (13th overall), advancing to the Final Four for the third time in program history (1991, 2005, 2007).