Box Score BOX SCORE
RAPID REACTION: HEAD COACH PAUL CALKINS
When and Where: May 3, 2016 – Manchester, N.H. (Larkin Field)
Score: #4 Southern New Hampshire University 15, #5 Pace University 13
Records: SNHU 10-5, Pace 11-6
Junior Keifer Heckman (Peabody, Mass.) scored six goals and classmate Tyler Walsh (Northampton, Mass.) stopped 13 shots to lead fourth-seeded Southern New Hampshire University to a 15-13 victory over fifth-seeded Pace University in Northeast-10 Conference Championship quarterfinal action at Larkin Field on Tuesday.
The Penmen, who earned the first postseason victory in program history, advance to Friday's Northeast-10 Championship semifinals where they will face top-seeded Le Moyne College at 2 p.m.
Heckman notched a game-high six points while classmate Daniel Trainor (Billerica, Mass.) scored four goals and senior Cameron Joyce (Braintree, Mass.) added a pair. Senior Eric Johnson (West Suffield, Conn.) and junior Cameron McGuire (Melrose, Mass.) also chipped offensively with a goal and an assist apiece.
After the Setters scored the game-tying goal with one second left in the third quarter, they opened the fourth with a man-up marker to take a 12-11 lead with 13:51 to play.
Heckman and Trainor took over from there, as the duo combined for the ensuing four goals to put the game out of reach. Heckman knotted the score at 12 less than two minutes after Pace took the lead, and Trainor rifled home a man-up strike at 6:32 to regain a one-goal advantage for Southern New Hampshire. Trainor extended the advantage to a pair 1:08 later with his fourth of the night before Heckman deposited his sixth with 6:31 to go to make it 15-12. Liam Brennan potted his fourth of the contest for Pace with just over two-and-a-half minutes left in the fourth to provide the final margin of scoring.
The Penmen opened the game with three straight scores and held a 4-2 lead after one quarter. Joyce tallied his 50th of the season at 5:38 before Trainor followed with his 22nd with seven minutes to go. After Johnson tucked a shot just inside the post 1:18 later, the Setters responded with two-straight goals to cut the SNHU edge to one before Heckman closed out the period with his first of the evening with 2:30 remaining in the period.
After being held to just two goals through the first 15 minutes of play, Pace put together a three-goal run to start the second and grab a 5-4 advantage. Sophomore Chris West (Albany, N.Y.) put a halt to the Setters' streak with his fourth of the year at the six minute mark, but Pace again roared back with another three-goal spurt to build an 8-5 lead with 6:23 to play before intermission.
Southern New Hampshire clamped down for the duration of the half, and surrendered just one goal to the visitors while scoring four times to even the score at nine heading into the break. Heckman completed his hat trick with a pair of markers at 11:35 and 11:56, before answering a Setters' strike with his third of the stanza at 13:42. McGuire capped the roller coaster first half with an unassisted goal with 43 seconds remaining.
The two teams traded scores in the third with Joyce and Trainor finding the back of the net for the Penmen, and Brennan adding an additional goal for Pace to go along with his buzzer-beating tally to make it a nine-all affair moving to the fourth.
Walsh improved to 9-1 after stopping 13 of the 26 shots he faced. Junior Matthew Blaisdell (Tewksbury, Mass.) and sophomore Cam Rewucki (Dover, N.H.) each caused two turnovers to lead the defense, while senior Ryan Pacheco (Manchester, N.H.) raked in five groundballs.
Notes:
- Southern New Hampshire won the faceoff battle by a 19-12 margin, and emerged victorious in eight of the final 11 trips to the X. Pacheco was 9-for-13 in faceoffs, while junior Patrick Goff (Nashua, N.H.) finished the night 10-for-18.
- The Penmen were 3-for-10 with the man advantage, with all-three of its goals coming in the second half, and held Pace to just one goal on nine extra-man opportunities.
- Joyce extended his point streak to 33 straight games to the 2014 season and registered multiple points for the 21st consecutive contest.
- Heckman collected multiple goals for the 10th game in a row and notched a point for the 19th straight outing.
What's Next:
Southern New Hampshire continues Northeast-10 Championship play on Friday (May 6) when it heads to top-seeded Le Moyne for a 2 p.m. faceoff against the Dolphins.
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