Box Score BOX SCORE
RAPID REACTION WITH HEAD COACH ELIE MONTEIRO
When and Where: September 30, 2017 – Manchester, N.H. (Larkin Field)
Score: Southern New Hampshire University 1, Stonehill College 0
Records: SNHU 8-1-1 (6-0-1 NE10), Stonehill 4-6-0 (2-4-0 NE10)
Senior Trisha Luis (Lowell, Mass.) scored less than three minutes into the contest and the 21st-ranked Southern New Hampshire University women's soccer team would hold on for a 1-0 victory against Stonehill College on Saturday afternoon at Larkin Field to give the program its best start to a season in 23 years.
Southern New Hampshire needed just 2:27 to put the game's first goal on the board as freshman Reanna Romano (Derry, N.H.) delivered a corner service from the left that tipped off the fingers of leaping Stonehill goalkeeper Kaitlin Brown and right to Luis, who drilled the ball into the open net to make it 1-0.
The Penmen looked to have gone up 2-0 in the 11th minute when Luis popped the ball into the top left corner of the net after being slipped a through-ball from senior Sydney Crema (Litchfield, N.H.), but SNHU was whistled for being offside.
Southern New Hampshire did nearly double the lead in the 16th minute as junior Miranda Peloquin (Greenville, R.I.) headed a long pass from the right corner toward the far post, but Brown dove and knocked the ball out of play.
The score stayed that way through halftime into the second stanza. Stonehill gathered momentum after the break and submitted its first dangerous chance in the 61st minute as Courtney Campo's one-timed blast from the middle of the box sailed high over the crossbar.
The Skyhawks looked like they would level the match in the 76th minute as a service from the right flank rolled across the goalmouth, giving a pair of Stonehill players a chance at it, but the ball would squirt out the left side of the box and out of harm's way.
Senior goalkeeper Paige Salmon (W. Hempstead, N.Y.) stopped both shots she faced, while Brown made six saves.
Notes:
- The Penmen have just one loss in their first 10 matches to start the year for the first time since 1994 (9-1-0). Not a single player on the current roster was alive then, while head coach Elie Monteiro was in his junior year and assistant coach Jamie Williams in his sophomore season with the then-New Hampshire College men's soccer team.
- SNHU extends its unbeaten streak to eight matches, its longest since it went 7-0-3 from Sept. 17-Oct. 21, 2003.
- Southern New Hampshire is 12-2-1 in the regular season, dating back to Oct. 15 of last season.
- The Penmen are outscoring their opponents, 21-4, through the first 10 matches of the season.
- Salmon's shutout is her seventh of the season and the 12th of her career.
- She and the Penmen have not allowed a goal over the last 357:40, dating back to Sept. 19 when Franklin Pierce's 23rd-minute strike snapped a 276:18 scoreless streak. Over the last 633:59, the Penmen have given up just a single goal.
-SNHU has still not allowed a goal at home over 450:00 this season and has not given up a marker at Larkin Field in the last 479:34 dating back to Oct. 29 of last season.
- Luis' goal was her fifth of the season and the 20th of her career, while Romano's assist was her first collegiate point.
- Southern New Hampshire outshot Stonehill, 14-6, including 8-1 in the opening half, and also held an 11-5 advantage in corner kicks.
- SNHU is now outshooting its opponents, 194-58, on the season.
- The team hosted its annual Pink Game to help raise awareness and funds for Catholic Medical Center's Breast Care Center.
Up Next:
The Penmen return to action Tuesday, Oct. 3 (7 p.m.) when they take on Merrimack College. The next home match for SNHU is Saturday, Oct. 14 (4 p.m.) when it plays host to Saint Michael's College at Larkin.
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