Box Score BOX SCORE
RAPID REACTION WITH HEAD COACH JOSH TAYLOR
When and Where: October 8, 2016 – Manchester, N.H. (Larkin Field)
Score: Southern New Hampshire University 3, University of New Haven 2
Records: SNHU 8-2-0 (5-2 NE-10), New Haven 5-5-1 (2-4-1 NE-10)
Graduate student Rayane Boukemia (Strasbourg, France) returned after missing three straight matches and scored a pair of goals to help the Southern New Hampshire University men's soccer team get by the University of New Haven, 3-2, Saturday evening at Larkin Field.
Trailing, 1-0, following a late first-half goal by New Haven, Southern New Hampshire tied it just 3:25 into the second stanza when senior Gilbert Manier (Kigali, Rwanda) carried the ball in from the left corner and served it into the right side of the box where it was settled by classmate Enzo Giuliani (Toulouse, France), who punched it into the left side of the net.
SNHU grabbed the lead for good just 1:59 later as a loose ball that banged around the box off a corner service arrived on the foot of Boukemia on the right side of the box before he took a shot that wound up in the left side of the back of the net to make it 2-1 in favor of the hosts.
Southern New Hampshire nearly made it a two-goal game in the 58th minute as Boukemia served the ball down the left end line for Giuliani, who ran onto the ball on the left side of the box, but volleyed it just high.
Boukemia again took matters into his own hands to add some breathing room for the Penmen just under two minutes later when his free kick from the top of the box went between the New Haven wall of defenders and the right post to stretch the lead to 3-1.
Graduate goalkeeper Nick Zucco (Ludlow, Mass.) kept it a two-goal game in the 72nd minute when he came way out of his net toward midfield and thwarted a New Haven opportunity by heading the ball out of harm's way and back up field.
The Penmen nearly tallied goal No. 4 in the 79th minute when Manier launched an absolute missile from the top of the left side of the box, but it cruised just over the crossbar.
That goal would have been huge because the Chargers made it a one-goal game in the 83rd minute when Ben Lamb scored on a low shot from the middle of the box after receiving a cross from Cam Twombly.
The first half was a story of missed finishes for the Penmen. The first came in just the sixth minute when Giuliani and Boukemia orchestrated a beautiful give-and-go with Boukemia slipping a perfect pass to Giuliani, whose shot went wide to the right.
Boukemia had a chance to score the game's first goal himself in the 19th minute, but his shot from the left edge of the 6-yard box was saved by diving New Haven goalkeeper Stefano Lorusso.
A big hustle play from freshman Romain Daniellou (Brieuc, France) erased a New Haven chance in the 23rd minute when he came from behind and executed a slide tackle on an attacker for the Chargers, who had begun an odd-man rush out of the Southern New Hampshire offensive zone.
Notes:
-Zucco made three saves, while Lorusso stopped seven shots for New Haven.
-Southern New Hampshire outshot the Chargers, 24-7, including 14-2 in the second stanza, and also held a 7-0 advantage in corner kicks.
-SNHU is now 66-5-4 (.907) over its last 75 matches dating back to the beginning of the 2013 National Championship season, while it is unbeaten in 58 of its last 62 (56-4-2; .919) at home.
Up Next:
The Penmen return to action Tuesday, Oct. 11 (4 p.m.) when they take on crosstown rival Saint Anselm College. The next home match for SNHU is Saturday, Oct. 15 (7 p.m.) when it plays host to Adelphi University on Homecoming at Larkin.
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