DURHAM, N.H. – Junior midfielder Rory O'Driscoll (Minneapolis, Minn.) scored both UNH goals as the No. 9 nationally-ranked University of New Hampshire men's soccer team defeated UAlbany, 2-0, on Saturday evening in the America East season opener.
The Wildcats improve to 7-0-0 on the season (1-0-0 AE), while the Great Danes fall to 4-3-0 (0-1-0 AE).
UNH has outscored its opponents this season by a 11-2 margin with five shutouts. UP NEXT:
UNH returns to action on Tuesday, Sept. 21 versus Quinnipiac at 6 p.m. at Wildcat Stadium on AmericaEast.TV. The game will be a showdown of two undefeated teams as Quinnipiac is 5-0-0.
O'Driscoll netted the game-winning goal in the seventh minute (6:01), making the score 1-0. Senior Tola Showunmi (Enfield, England) passed the ball to O'Driscoll on the right side as he floated a shot from 10 yards out over UAlbany goalkeeper Carlos Tofern to the left side of the net.
Junior Jassem Koleilat (Dubai, United Arab Emirates) kept the Great Danes off the scoreboard by making a save in the 35th minute after a shot by UAlbany's Adam Aoumaich was going to lower left side of the net.
A shot by graduate studentLinus Fallberg (Jonkoping, Sweden) was saved by Tofern in the 49th minute, as the game remained 1-0 early in the second half.
Showunmi attempted to extend the lead in the 58th minute when he went on a breakaway but his shot to the bottom left side of the goal was saved by Tofern.
After UAlbany was called for a foul in the box, O'Driscoll scored on the penalty kick to the lower side of the goal in the 79th minute (78:07) to extend the Wildcat lead to 2-0. This was the second straight game O'Driscoll scored on a penalty kick.
The Wildcat defense kept the Great Danes from scoring for the 2-0 final.
Tola Showunmi (Photo by China Wong) INSIDE THE NUMBERS: Jassem Koleilat (Photo by China Wong)
UNH outshot UAlbany, 10-5, while the Wildcats posted six shots on goal and the Great Danes took one.
UNH attempted four corner kicks, while UAlbany had two.
Koleilat made one save for his fifth shutout of the season to improve to 7-0-0, while Tofern made four saves for UAlbany.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE: Rory O'Driscoll (China Wong)
The Wildcats are 13-0-2 over the last 15 regular season games with 11 straight wins. UNH's last regular season loss was a 1-0 defeat to UAlbany on Nov. 1, 2019.
UNH is 37-1-5 all-time at Wildcat Stadium, outscoring the opposition by an 83-15 advantage.
O'Driscoll now leads the team in goals with four this season and in game-winning goals with three.
UNH is 6-1-0 in America East season openers during the Marc Hubbard era outscoring the opposition 13-3.
.png&type=webp)
.png&type=webp)
