MEN'S SOCCER BATTLES TO SCORELESS TIE WITH UMASS

BURLINGTON, Vt. – The University of New Hampshire men’s soccer team battled for a scoreless 110 minutes with the University of Massachusetts on Friday, Sept. 11 at Vermont’s Smith Barney Classic.

The Wildcats, who move to 1-2-1 with the tie, outshot their opponent 16-5. The Minutemen adjust to 0-1-2 with the tie.

New Hampshire (1-2-1) goalkeeper Colin O’Donnell (Hampden, Mass.) made a stellar save to preserve the tie when the Minutemen had a penalty kick opportunity during the first period of play. UMass’ Chris Roswess was tripped up in the box to force the foul, but O’Donnell dove to his right to make the stop on the low driven ball. The junior keeper was selected as the America East Man of the Match for the Wildcats.

Also in the first half, Alex Hussein (Haverhill, Mass.) connected on a point-blank header, but UMass’ Chris Piekos made the save. Hussein finished with two shots in the game.

Sean Coleman (Stratham, Mass.), who recorded two shots in the game, had a one-on-one opportunity and beat his opponent, but Piekos made the save. Another scoring chance came from Marcus Barr (Wallingford, Pa.) when he delivered a diagonal pass to Chris Banks (Springfield, Mass.), who played it off his chest and on net. Once again the Minuteman goalkeeper, who made seven saves in the game, came up with the stop. Banks led the team with three goals.

With 10 seconds remaining in the game, the Wildcats had an opportunity to pull ahead with a long throw in on the offensive side. Bobby Cooley (Northborough, Mass.) connected with the ball, but it was knocked away by the Minutemen.

The Wildcats return to action on Sunday, Sept. 13 when they finish up the Smith Barney Classic by taking on Portland.