RINDGE, N.H. – Although the score would indicate another lopsided loss for the 23rd-ranked Post University Men's Soccer team at the hands of top-ranked Franklin Pierce University on Sunday evening, the box score does not tell the entire story. An evenly matched affair almost entirely throughout boiled down to a couple of defensive miscues from the Eagles which the two-time defending National Champion Ravens took advantage of en route to their 5-0 win.

THE BASICS

#23 Post University 0, #1 Franklin Pierce University 5

#23 Post University (1-2-1)

#1 Franklin Pierce University (3-0-1)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Although awarded to freshman defender Miguel D'Amico, the opening goal of the evening for the Ravens came from a cross pass by the Franklin Pierce offense in which an Eagle defender attempted to knock away but in doing so hit it into the back of the net. That was the only score through the first 45 minutes in which both teams were nearly identical on the score sheet with Franklin Pierce holding just an 8-7 edge in shots and a 4-3 lead in saves along with a 4-0 advantage in corner kicks.

The second goal of the match came in the 59th minute for the Ravens when sophomore goalkeeper Leopold Dufaut attempted to clear the ball out of the defensive zone but did not get the whole ball and it spun off to the side. There to grab it was graduate forward Andrin Zumbuhl for the easy score to extend the lead to 2-0. A few minutes before that, freshman forward Marc Ballart had a chance against graduate goalkeeper Karl Vernet to equalize the game at one but was turned away.

Junior midfielder Antonio Lima, who finished with two goals and an assist recorded the next two Franklin Pierce goals against freshman goalkeeper Benjamin Tamas just 17 minutes and 28 seconds apart from each other before junior forward Guillermo Avendano capped the scoring less than a minute later with his goal in the 89th minute.

Getting the shutout win was Vernet after stopping all six Post shots he faced while Dufaut made three saves on five attempts and Tamas had no saves on three attempts for the Eagles in the 5-0 loss.
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• A total of eight yellow cards were issued in the match with both teams accumulating four apiece – Six of those eight cards were awarded in the second half of play
• Post University has now lost seven consecutive matchups against Franklin Pierce University while also being shutout in their last five matches against the Ravens dating back to November 20th, 2021
• This is the first time since the start of the 2022 season in which Post University has been under .500 when they started 1-2-0 after back-to-back losses against Adelphi University and Franklin Pierce University after a season-opening win against AIC that year
• With their second straight shutout loss, this marks the first time since that same 2022 season in which Post University suffered back-to-back shutout losses as the Adelphi and Franklin Pierce matches were both 2-0 defeats

WHO'S NEXT
Post University plays a neutral site game on Tuesday evening inside Dillon Stadium located in Hartford, Connecticut at 7:00 PM against the University of New Haven. After going 1-5-0 in their first six head-to-head matches against the Chargers from 2002-2007, the Eagles have won the last three matchups from 2008-2019 with the last being a 5-2 victory on the road. The game will be live-streamed by the Post University Athletic Communications Team and Live Statistics will also be available at the links on the Men's Soccer page.