When and Where: September 11, 2024 – Waterbury, Conn. (LaMoy Field)
Score: Southern New Hampshire University 7, #23 Post University 0
Records: SNHU 2-0-0, Post 1-1-1
Sophomore
Martin Zapata (Pamplona, Spain) scored twice to lead the offensive barrage, as the Southern New Hampshire University men's soccer team notched a 7-0 victory against 23rd-ranked Post University on Wednesday afternoon at LaMoy Field.
STANDOUT PERFORMERS
- Zapata – 2 goals
- Graduate student Malvin Gblah (Zwedru, Liberia) – 1 goal, 1 assist
- Graduate student Dani Gonzalez (Llanera, Spain) – 1 goal, 1 assist
- Junior Alejo Caceres (Cordoba, Argentina) – 2 assists
- Junior Philipp Herrmann (Bruckmuehl, Germany) – goal
- Sophomore Charlie Preus (London, U.K.) – goal
- Senior Shane Siegel (Bellport, N.Y.) – goal
- Senior Preston Neal (Windham, N.H.) – 3 saves, shutout
KEY MOMENTS
- Gonzalez opened the scoring late in the sixth minute off assists from Caceres and graduate student Rafa Escobedo (Santander, Spain).
- The Penmen doubled their lead early in the 14th minute with Zapata's first tally of the day, which was set up by Gblah and Caceres.
- SNHU took its 2-0 lead to the break, with Zapata making it a three-goal match in the 54th minute off a feed from graduate student Martín Fuentes (Pamplona, Spain).
- Herrmann made it 4-0 in the 68th minute, with sophomore Gabriel Castro (Leon, Spain) setting up a Gblah goal that stretched the advantage to 5-0 in the 73rd.
- Gonzalez picked up a helper on Preus' 80th-minute marker, before Siegel added the exclamation point with just 35 seconds to go in the match.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- SNHU owned a 15-7 advantage in shots, including 9-3 in shots on target.
- The Penmen also held a 5-1 corner margin.
- Post goalkeeper Ricardo Moreno did not make a save in the opening 11:51, while Leopold Dufaut stopped just two of seven shots in the final 78:09.
NOTES
- Southern New Hamphire is 2-0 for the third consecutive season, as it also begins the year with back-to-back shutouts for the third straight campaign.
- Post entered the day unbeaten in 21 of its last 24 matches. This marks the first loss for the Eagles to a team other than two-time defending NCAA Division II National Champion Franklin Pierce University since Nov. 17 2022 against the University of Charleston in the NCAA tournament's Round of 16.
- SNHU leads the all-time series with Post, 10-2-2. The Penmen are unbeaten in nine of the last 10 meetings (7-1-2). This is SNHU's first win at Post since Sept. 5, 2018 (1-0). The seven-goal margin is also the largest in the series, surpassing the first meeting Oct. 16, 1999, in which the Penmen won, 6-0, at home.
- The seven goals and seven-goal margin are both the most and largest for the Penmen since an 8-1 home win over Assumption University on Oct. 18, 2014.
- Following a 5-0 win against Molloy University in the season opener Sept. 5, the 12 goals are the most in a two-match span since Oct. 15-18, 2014 when the Penmen scored 14 times, including a 6-0 blanking of Saint Michael's College.
- The back-to-back shutouts also have the highest combined offensive output since Oct. 25-30, 1995 when the Penmen blanked the University of Massachusetts Lowell (5-0) and the University of Bridgeport (7-0).
- Additionally, this is Post's worst loss since it was defeated by Bridgeport at home by the same 7-0 score back on Sept. 7, 2004.
- Neal recorded his 11th career shutout in 32 starts for SNHU.
- Zapata and Gblah are tied for the team lead in points with five on two goals and an assist.
- SNHU is now 134-37-24 (.749) over its last 195 matches dating back to the beginning of the 2013 National Championship season.
WHAT'S NEXT
- The Penmen return to action Saturday, Sept. 14 (12 p.m.) when they travel to Thomas Jefferson University.
- The next home game for SNHU will be on Saturday, Sept. 21 (4 p.m.) against Southern Connecticut State University in the first Northeast-10 Conference game of the season. It will be Candia Youth Soccer Day at Ouellette Stadium.
