Box Score MANCHESTER, N.H. – Second-seeded Southern New Hampshire University got goals from five different players as it blanked No. 7 seed Southern Connecticut State University in the quarterfinals of the Northeast-10 Men's Soccer Championship Wednesday night at Larkin Field. The Penmen improved to 15-3 overall, while the Owls see their season come to a close at 8-7-1.
SNHU advances to Friday's semifinals, where it will host third-seeded UMass Lowell, a 3-1 winner over Le Moyne Wednesday afternoon. The Penmen blanked the River Hawks 3-0 when the two teams met on October 17.
Southern New Hampshire scored twice in a 1:17 span early in the first half to take a 2-0 lead. At the 8:34 mark, Ruben Resendes (Fall River, Mass.) intercepted an Owl pass in the backfield and passed it over to Jordan Branco (Norton, Mass.), who dribbled in and put in his sixth goal of the season. At the 9:51 mark, Branco sent a pass out to Sam Kelley (Bedford, N.H.), who's blast from 30 yards found the top left corner for his second goal of the year.
Chris Tsonis (Dartmouth, Mass.) made it 3-0 11:16 into the second half when Branco played a ball to him near midfield and Tsonis was able to get past an SCSU defender. He made a move past Owl keeper Stephen Sasso and put the short shot in for his 13th goal of the season. Dominic Samuel (Toronto, Ontario) scored at 65:22 on a restart, with Branco and Resendes adding assists. Joe Mahr (Fayetteville, N.Y.) closed out the scoring in the 80th minute when he scored on a cross in the box by Kenny Doublette (Greenwich, Conn.).
Dom DiMaggio (Rome, N.Y.) turned aside six shots en route to his eighth shutout of the season for Southern New Hampshire, while Sasso made three saves for the Owls. The Penmen outshot Southern Connecticut 13-7.
