PENMEN SOAR PAST SKYHAWKS

BOX SCORE

MANCHESTER, N.H. -  Southern New Hampshire University played host to Stonehill College in Northeast-10 men's soccer and came away with a 2-0 victory on a clear Wednesday night at Larkin Field. The Penmen improved to 2-1-3 on the season, and 2-1-1 in NE-10 play, while the Skyhawks dropped to 2-3 and 0-3 in the league.

With 3:15 remaining before halftime, the Penmen got on the board as captain Matt Delaney (Wallasey, England), with SNHU's sixth shot on goal of the half, connected with a header on a corner kick to make it 1-0. The first half was controlled by the Penmen, outshooting Stonehill 9-1.  Freshman Daniel Hernandez (Salem, NH) put a shot over the top of the net four minutes into the game, and a header by Gabe Mercier (Middleboro, MA) ricocheted off the crossbar just two minutes later.

To begin the second half, the Skyhawks looked to tie the game early, as Stonehill's Richard Carvalho missed high with a direct kick three minutes in and Shaun Keeley missed with a header over the top shortly thereafter. Pelc, who finished with five saves on the night to preserve the shutout (his fourth of the season and 21st of his career) stopped a laser right at him, deflecting the ball up and over the net with 25 minutes remaining.

SNHU then went back on the offensive attack, as Delaney put on some pressure of his own, just missing wide left on two shot attempts midway through the half. However, SNHU's Paulson Edum (Calabar, Nigeria) did find the back of the net with just over 14 minutes to play, connecting after a corner kick with the assists going to the Penmen's Simon Kearney and Hernandez for the team's second and final goal of the contest.

With the shutout, Pelc moves into a tie for second place on the SNHU shutout list with Erik Fernstrom.  Kerl made six saves for Stonehill.

Southern New Hampshire returns to action on Saturday when it hosts defending Division II national champion Dowling College in a 1:00 match at Larkin Field.