DURHAM, N.H. – Junior Tola Showunmi (Enfield, England) and graduate student Paul Mayer (Strasbourg, France) netted their first goals as UNH Wildcats as the No. 18 University of New Hampshire men's soccer team defeated Northeastern, 4-2, in the home opener at Wildcat Stadium on Saturday afternoon in non-conference action.
Sophomore Bilal Kamal (London, England) netted his first of the season and sophomore Rory O'Driscoll (Minneapolis, Minn.) scored his second of the year to secure the win against Northeastern. Showunmi and Kamal also each posted an assist for three-point afternoons.
The Wildcats improve to 2-0-0, while Northeastern falls to 0-2-0. UP NEXT:
UNH will return to action on Friday, March 12 for a matchup versus America East opponent Vermont at Wildcat Stadium.
HOW IT HAPPENED: Tola Showunmi scored his first goal as a UNH Wildcat (Photo by Vincent Dejana)
Showunmi opened the scoring with his first goal as a Wildcat in the 13th minute (12:34). After freshman Yannick Bright (Milan, Italy) sent a long pass to Kamal in the box who tipped it to Bright as he buried it into the back of the net from right in front of the goal to give the 'Cats a 1-0 lead.
Then just 1:12 later, Kamal scored his first goal of the season as he fired the ball to the left side of the net off a pass from Showunmi in the 14th minute (13:46) to increase the lead to 2-0.
UNH made it a 3-0 contest when O'Driscoll rocketed a free kick to the upper left corner of the net (21:00).
The Wildcats posted five shots on goal during the first half and held the Huskies to no shots on goal.
Bernado Gracindo put Northeastern on the board in the 69th minute (68:18) as he scored off a rebound.
The Wildcats responded just 34 seconds later (68:52) when Mayer knocked in a rebound off a shot by junior Chris Pinkham (Concord, N.H.).
In the 88th minute the Huskies were granted a penalty kick. Timothy Ennin had his first shot saved by redshirt freshman goalkeeper Clay Courtmanche (West Hartford, Conn.), but Ennin capitalized on his own rebound to make the score 4-2.
Neither team would score again for the 4-2 final.
Bilal Kamal scored his first goal of the season today (Photo by Vincent Dejana)
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
Rory O'Driscoll leads the team with two goals this season (Photo by Vincent Dejana)
Northeastern outshot UNH, 12-11, while the 'Cats posted six shots on goal and the Huskies took five.
The 'Cats took three corner kicks, while the Huskies had four.
Graduate student Alejandro Robles (Monterey, Mexico) played the first half and did not a face a shot on goal, while Courtmanche made his collegiate debut and posted three saves. Colby Hegarty tallied two saves for Northeastern.
Paul Mayer scored his first goal in a UNH uniform this afternoon (Photo by Vincent Dejana)
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:
UNH leads the all-time series versus Northeastern, 22-7-1, and have won five straight in the series.
The Wildcats have dominated at Wildcat Stadium with an all-time record of 30-1-4, outscoring their opposition by a 66-13 advantage.
Showunmi and Mayer both scored their first goals as Wildcats.
The Wildcats have scored six goals over the first two games.
UNH is 30-1-4 all-time at Wildcat Stadium (Photo by Vincent Dejana)
STAY CONNECTED:
There are numerous ways to stay connected with the UNH men's hockey team. Follow the Wildcats on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
.png&type=webp)
.png&type=webp)
