UNH Set For NCAA Tourney Clash With Fairfield at Wildcat Stadium

Thursday, November 16

Durham, N.H.

7:00 PM

University of New Hampshire

Fairfield

Buy Tickets

Andrew Pesci

Photo by: Joey Walker

UNH Set For NCAA Tourney Clash With Fairfield at Wildcat Stadium

11/15/2017 7:18:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Buy Tickets Video Stats UNH Game Notes NCAA Tournament Bracket

2017 New Hampshire Men's Soccer
November 16, 2017
NCAA Championship First Round
New Hampshire (12-3-4, 4-2-1 AE) vs.
Fairfield (12-4-3, 7-1-2 MAAC); 7:00 p.m.
Wildcat Stadium; Durham, N.H.

What You Need to Know:

The University of New Hampshire men's soccer team has earned an at-large bid to the 2017 NCAA Tournament and will host Fairfield on Thursday, Nov. 16 at 7:00 p.m., at Wildcat Stadium in the first round. This is the Wildcats' second appearance in the NCAA Tournament and their first in 23 years. This is also the first-ever home NCAA Tournament game for the UNH men's soccer team in program history.
Tickets are on sale now and are $8 dollars for adults and $5 dollars for youth/senior. UNH students can pick up their free tickets the day of the game with their student IDs. Tickets can be purchased at UNHWildcats.com, at the Whittemore Center box office or by calling 603-862-4000.
The Wildcats are 12-3-4 overall this season and went 4-2-1 in America East. Fairfield is 12-4-3 with a 7-1-2 mark in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The Stags won the MAAC Tournament by defeating Rider, 1-0, in the championship game on Nov. 12, to secure the automatic bid to the tournament.
The Wildcats are ranked No. 20 in the RPI, while Fairfield is No. 60.
UNH is 9-0-3 this season at Wildcat Stadium.
Fairfield is 7-0-3 over its last 10 games.
The only common opponent for the teams this season was Quinnipiac as UNH and Farfield each defeated the Bobcats by a 1-0 score. The Stags also tied Quinnipiac,0-0, in the MAAC semifinals and advanced to the final with a 3-2 victory in the penalty kick shootout.
The Wildcats' previous appearance in the NCAA Tournament was when they received an at-large bid in 1994. UNH fell to Brown, 3-2, in overtime in Providence, R.I.
This is the fifth NCAA Tournament appearance for the Stags (1998, 2006, 2008, 2011 and 2017).
The winner of the game will play at No. 15 seed Dartmouth on Nov. 19 at 1:00 p.m.
UNH won the last meeting versus Fairfield with a 1-0 victory on Sept. 7, 2014.
The Wildcats have outscored their opposition 27-11 and have 10 shutouts.
Only twice this season has UNH allowed more than one goal in a game.
UNH's 0.54 goals against average is ranked eighth in the nation.

THE MATCHUP: UNH is ranked 75th nationally with 1.47 goals per game and the Wildcats are eighth in the country with 0.545 goals allowed per game. UNH's .737 winning percentage is 18th nationally. The Wildcats have 5.89 shots on goal this season which are 47th nationally. The Stags are 115th nationally with 1.26 goals scored per contest, while they are ranked 50th with a team goals against average of 0.983. Fairfield's winning percentage of .711 is 24th in the country. The Stags take 3.68 shots on goal which are 188th nationally.

UNDEFEATED AT WILDCAT STADIUM: UNH is undefeated at Wildcat Stadium this season. The Wildcats have posted a 9-0-3 record. UNH has outscored its opponents at home by a 21-5 margin.

SECOND NCAA APPEARANCE: This is UNH's second ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats went 15-5-2 in 1994 and earned an at-large bid to the tournament. UNH then played at Brown in the first round, falling 3-2 in overtime.

WILDCATS EARN ALL-LEAGUE ACCOLADES: Graduate student Robin Schmidt has been named the America East Men's Soccer Striker of the Year, while UNH also won the Coaching Staff of the Year award. Schmidt, freshman Linus Fallberg and junior Otto Sahlen earned All-America East first team accolades, while graduate student Willis Griffith was named to the second team. Red-shirt freshman Josh Bauer and Fallberg received All-Rookie team honors. Junior Chris Arling earned a spot on the All-Academic team. Also sophomore Kyle Brewster and freshman Jacob Gould earned America East All-Tournament honors.

PESCI OUTSTANDING IN NET: Graduate student Andrew Pesci is ranked ninth nationally with a 0.545 goals against average, while his 10 shutouts are fifth. His 10 shutouts ties the school record for a season. The team has allowed only 11 goals all year. He is 12-3-4 this year and has a 26-10-4 career record with 17 shutouts.

SCHMIDT LEADS UNH WITH 13 POINTS: Graduate student Robin Schmidt leads the team with six goals and 13 points. He is also tied for first with two game-winning goals.

STAY CONNECTED: There are numerous ways to stay connected with the UNH men's soccer team. Follow the Wildcats on Twitter @UNHMSoccer and on Instagram @unhmenssoccer.