Northeastern's Frantzdy Pierrot
Men's Soccer Weekly Honors - Oct. 12
Rob Washburn
CAA MEN'S SOCCER WEEKLY REPORT - OCT. 12 (PDF format)
CAA MEN'S SOCCER PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Frantzdy Pierrot • Northeastern
So., Forward, Port-au-Prince, Haiti/Melrose
Pierrot scored two goals, including a game-winner, in Northeastern’s 1-1 week. The sophomore forward tallied the game-winning goal in the 88th minute as the Huskies defeated William & Mary 2-1 for their first victory of the season. He also gave NU a 1-0 lead in the first half of a 2-1 setback at nationally ranked Elon. Pierrot has scored a goal in three consecutive games and leads NU with four goals and nine points for the season.
CAA MEN'S SOCCER ROOKIE OF THE WEEK:
Amir Berkane • Elon
Fr., Midfielder, Kelvedon, U.K./Honywood Community Science
Berkane scored a game-winning goal and assisted on a game-winner to help lead Elon to a 2-0 week. The freshman midfielder broke a 1-1 tie against Northeastern with his second goal of the season in the 72nd minute. He then assisted on the game-winning goal by James Brace in Elon’s 1-0 triumph over Lipscomb. For the season, Berkane has two goals and one assist.
Around The League:
THREE CAA TEAMS RANKED IN NATIONAL POLLS: For the fifth consecutive week, three CAA teams are ranked in national polls. In this week’s College Soccer News Top 30 poll, Elon moved up to #14, Hofstra is ranked #22 and UNCW is ranked #24. In the Top Drawer Soccer Top 25, Hofstra is ranked #17 and Elon is ranked #21. In last week’s NSCAA Top 25, Elon was ranked #13, Hofstra was ranked #14 and UNCW was the top team among others receiving votes. Soccer America had Hofstra at #19 and Elon at #24. Both groups will release a new poll on Tuesday.
THREE CAA TEAMS IN TOP 31 OF NCAA RPI: The CAA has three teams ranked among the top 31 of the NCAA Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) through games of October 11. Hofstra leads all CAA teams at #20, Elon is close behind at #23 and UNCW is ranked #31. The CAA and Conference USA are tied for the second-most teams in the top 31 of the RPI, trailing only the ACC with eight.
THREE CAA TEAMS AMONG TOP FIVE IN REGION: Three CAA teams were ranked among the top five in the NSCAA Midwest Region rankings on Oct. 6. Hofstra topped the group of conference squads at #1, followed by Elon at #2 and UNCW at #5. The Midwest Region includes schools from the CAA, Big Ten and Atlantic 10. A new poll will be released on Tuesday afternoon.
CAA TEAMS, PLAYERS AMONG NCAA STAT LEADERS: UNCW ranks sixth in the nation in goals per game (2.36) and ninth in points per game (6.64), while Elon is 14th in goals per game (2.17), 15th in points (6.17) and eighth in shutouts (.58). Drexel is 12th in saves per game (5.31) and College of Charleston is 17th (5.09). Individually, UNCW’s Colin Bonner ranks 14th in points per game (1.73) and 26th in goals per game (0.64). CofC’s Kevin Shields is 19th in saves per game (4.88 spg) and 28th in save percentage (.813). Hofstra’s Joseph Holland ranks 7th in assists per game (0.58) and Pride goalkeeper Patric Pray is 25th in save percentage (.815).
HOFSTRA STAYS ATOP CAA STANDINGS: Nationally ranked Hofstra stayed atop the CAA standings after pulling out a 1-0 double-overtime victory over Delaware last Saturday. Junior defender Harri Hawkins recorded the game-winning goal against the Blue Hens with just 1:53 remaining in the second extra session. Hofstra is 4-0 in CAA play for the first time ever. Senior goalkeeper Patric Pray made five saves to earn his fifth shutout of the season and the 16th of his career, which is tied for the second-most in Pride history. Junior Joseph Holland assisted on Hawkins’ game-winner and also had two assists in a 3-2 setback at Duke last Monday. He leads the CAA with eight assists this season. The Pride took a 2-0 lead at Duke on goals by Danny Elliott and Marius Flateboe, but saw the Blue Devils rally after Hofstra went a man down in the 65th minute.
ELON REACHES 10-WIN MARK: Nationally ranked Elon reached the 10-win mark for the third time in the past four years after beating CAA foe Northeastern (2-1) and Lipscomb (1-0) last week. Freshman Amir Berkane scored the game-winning goal vs. NU in the 72nd minute off an assist from fellow rookie Nick Adamczyk, and then assisted on the game-winning goal by senior James Brace against Lipscomb. Junior Jonathan Wenger tallied his first goal of the year against NU by heading in a long free kick by goalkeeper Mathew Jegier just before halftime. Jegier recorded his seventh shutout of the season against Lipscomb. Brace’s goal was his fourth of the season and the 20th of his career. The Phoenix have had 11 different players score a goal this season.
UNCW EXTENDS HOME UNBEATEN STREAK TO EIGHT: Nationally ranked UNCW extended its home unbeaten streak to eight (7-0-1) following a 3-1 victory over Drexel last Saturday. Freshman Ben Fisher put the Seahawks on top for good by converting a 25-yard free kick in the 50th minute for his sixth goal of the season. Senior forward Colin Bonner followed five minutes later with his CAA-leading seventh goal of the year. Bonner is now ninth in career points (60) and 10th in career goals (23) at UNCW. Brayden Smith became the 10th different Seahawk to score a goal off an assist from Jose Garcia. UNCW was limited to four shots in a 3-0 setback at No. 2 North Carolina last Tuesday.
PIERROT LEADS NU TO 1-1 WEEK: Northeastern rebounded from a tough 2-1 loss at nationally ranked Elon by topping William & Mary 2-1 last Saturday for its first victory of the season. Sophomore Ackim Mpofu gave the Huskies a 1-0 lead over W&M with his first goal of the year and sophomore Frantzdy Pierrot tacked on the eventual game-winner two minutes later. Pierrot, who also recorded NU’s goal at Elon, has scored in three straight matches and leads the team with four goals and nine points for the season. Goalkeeper Jonathan Thuresson stopped six shots against W&M and had four saves at Elon.
DELAWARE EARNS FIRST CAA VICTORY: Delaware split a pair of CAA road matches last week, defeating College of Charleston 2-0 for its first conference win before suffering a 1-0 double-overtime setback at Hofstra. Junior Guillermo Delgado scored his team-leading fifth goal of the season at CofC. He’s now third in both career goals (32) and points (72) at UD. Jaime Martinez assisted on Delgado’s goal and then added one of his own on a second-half penalty kick. Goalkeeper Todd Morton made eight saves and earned the shutout at CofC and stopped two shots at Hofstra. UD has played four double-overtime matches, which is its most since 2011.
BACK-TO-BACK TIES FOR JMU: James Madison has tied its past three matches after battling to a 2-2 draw with Howard and a 0-0 draw at College of Charleston last week. The Dukes have played four consecutive double-overtime contests for the first time since 2005. Freshman Thomas Shores and junior Connor Coward each scored their second goal of the season to give JMU a 2-0 lead over Howard. Freshman Billy Metzler assisted on both scores and has seven points (2g, 3a) for the season. Goalkeeper Kyle Morton made five saves at CofC and picked up his third shutout.
DREXEL’S MCGLYNN SCORES THIRD GOAL: Sophomore midfielder Colin McGlynn scored his team-leading third goal of the season in Drexel’s 3-1 setback at UNCW last Saturday. Sophomore Xavier Bou Hernandez picked up his first career point by assisting on McGlynn’s goal in the 81st minute. Goalkeeper Tyler Afflerbach made six saves at UNCW and also stopped two shots in a 1-0 non-conference loss to Columbia last Tuesday.
FIRST CAREER GOAL FOR W&M’S BERRY: Freshman Marcel Berry scored the first goal of his collegiate career in William & Mary’s 2-1 loss at Northeastern last Saturday. Berry found the net from the middle of the box off assists from William Eskay and Riley Spain. Eskay’s assist was his third of the year, which tied Berry and Reilly Maw for the team lead. Redshirt freshman Sam Onyeador made his second start of the season in goal at NU.
COFC’S SHIELDS RECORDS SECOND SHUTOUT: Junior goalkeeper Kevin Shields made two saves and recorded his second shutout of the season as College of Charleston fought to a 0-0 double-overtime draw with James Madison last Saturday. The Cougars out-shot the Dukes 11-10 and put six shots on net, but were unable to score for the second straight match. CofC also had a 19-8 advantage in shots in a 2-0 loss to Delaware last Wednesday. Adan Noel put five of his team-high 10 shots on goal vs. UD. CofC visits #2 North Carolina on Tuesday night.