Box Score LINK: POST-GAME INTERVIEW WITH COACH HUBBARD
MANCHESTER, N.H. – Top-seeded Southern New Hampshire University jumped out to a 3-0 halftime lead and cruised to a 5-0 victory over No. 8 seed The College of Saint Rose in a Northeast-10 Men's Soccer Championship quarterfinal Tuesday night at Larkin Field. The Penmen, who are ranked No. 10 nationally, won their 16th straight game to improve to 16-1, while the Golden Knights, who were making their first-ever NE-10 Championship appearance, see their season come to a close at 8-10.
SNHU will welcome fourth-seeded Adelphi University Friday night at 7:00 for an NE-10 semifinal at Larkin Field, as the Panthers downed Le Moyne College 3-0 Tuesday. The Penmen edged Adelphi 2-1 in overtime on September 28 on Long Island.
Southern New Hampshire took a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute as it was awarded a penalty kick after Sebastian Stezewski (New Britain, Conn.) was taken down in the box. Pierre Omanga (Paris, France) converted the penalty kick for his 17th goal of the season.
Just under five minutes later, the Penmen doubled the advantage on Christian Rodriguez's (Manchester, N.H.) third goal of the season. Rodriguez took a long left-to-right pass across the area from Kenny Doublette (Greenwich, Conn.) and chipped it over charging Saint Rose keeper Colan Baldwell to the far left post. Keegan Campbell (Norton, Mass.) made it 3-0 at the 26:22 mark when he one-timed a pass over the defense from Jonathan Lupinelli (Mont de Marsan, France) for his second goal of the season.
Brian Francolini (Ellington, Conn.) scored both Penmen goals in the second half. His first came off a short pass from the left endline by Stezewski 4:51 into the second half, while his second came in the 62nd minute. Francolini's initial header shot clanged off the crossbar, but he was able to collect the rebound and put it home for his fifth goal of the season.
Dom DiMaggio (Rome, N.Y.) played the first 61:52 in goal and made one save before being relieved by Eddie Legg (Broadlands, Va.), who was not forced to make a save the rest of the way to complete the shutout, SNHU's fourth in a row and 10th of the season. Balkwell went the distance for Saint Rose and made 11 saves as the Penmen held a commanding 29-6 shot advantage, including 20-2 in the first half.
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