MANCHESTER, N.H. – Ninth-ranked Southern New Hampshire University got goals from three different players as it downed Saint Anselm College 3-1 in Northeast-10 men's soccer Tuesday afternoon at Saint Anselm's Melucci Field. The Penmen, who have won three in a row, improved to 10-1-1 overall and 6-1-1 in NE-10 play, while the Hawks are now 3-9-1 and 3-5-1 in the league.
Southern New Hampshire took a 1-0 lead in the 32nd minute. Christian Rodriguez (Manchester, N.H.), standing at the top of the 18, played a ball into the right corner to Ruben Resendes (Fall River, Mass.). Resendes took one touch and delivered a crossing pass into the box that was headed home by Chris Tsonis (Dartmouth, Mass.). The Penmen would take that 1-0 lead into intermission.
The Penmen doubled their lead at the 61:02 mark when Rodriguez collected a ball being cleared by a Saint Anselm defender and blasted it home from 15 yards past Hawk keeper Eric Moriarty. SNHU made it 3-0 with 11:15 to play when Jordan Branco (Norton, Mass.) delivered a left-to-right corner kick into the box that took a bounce and was driven home by Jon Brockway (Lebanon, N.H.).
Saint Anselm would spoil SNHU's shutout bid with 5:41 to play when Kevin Greene lifted a shot from 35 yards out that snuck inside the upper right corner of the goal.
Jon Mayo (Merrimack, N.H.) made three saves in goal for the Penmen, including two point-blank saves in the second half to keep Saint Anselm off the board. Moriarty turned aside four shots for the Hawks as the guests generated a 16-12 shot advantage.
Southern New Hampshire returns to action Saturday when it hosts The College of Saint Rose in a 7:00 contest at Larkin Field. It marks SNHU's final regular-season home game of the year.
