BOSTON – Sitting in a three-way tie atop the early CAA table, the Northeastern men's soccer team will make the short hike to New Hampshire on Wednesday, Sept. 21, as the Huskies meet the Wildcats for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff. NU will be making its first road trip to UNH since the 2006 season.
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RECAPPING WEEK FOUR
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Northeastern (2-4-0) bounced back from a midweek defeat at rival Boston University (L, 0-3) to shut out Drexel, 2-0, during the Huskies' CAA opener at Parsons Field (Sept. 17).
Christian McKenna and
Ackim Mpofu lit up the home scoreboard for NU, finding the back of the net during the 18th and 41st minutes, respectively.
Khori Bennett and
Brendan Massie recorded assists on the Huskies' goals, with Massie's equating to the first collegiate point of the freshman's young career. Northeastern cruised to victory in the absence of
Khesanio Hall and
Moustapha Samb, who served their one-match suspensions courtesy of two red cards from the Huskies' Sept. 13 derby against BU.
Jonathan Thuresson garnered his second clean sheet of 2016, making three saves against the Dragons.
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SCOUTING NEW HAMPSHIRE
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For the second consecutive season, New Hampshire (6-1-0) has won six of its first seven matches. The Wildcats enter Wednesday night's contest coming off two straight victories in central New York, scoring five unanswered goals to defeat both Colgate (W, 3-0) and Cornell (W, 2-0). As of Sept. 20, UNH ranks second in the America East in goal differential (+10), having netted 17 goals, conceded seven, and allowed multiple goals only once.
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Nine New Hampshire players have consistently found their way onto the Wildcats' starting XI through seven matches, while five UNH players have amassed five points or more. Chris Arling leads New Hampshire with five goals on 18 shots this season and is one of two UNH players to direct more than 60 percent of their shots on net (Jack Dickson). Andrew Pesci, the Wildcats' goalkeeper, boasts a goals against average of 1.00 through 630 minutes.
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LAST MEETING
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Jonathan Thuresson saved all but one of the seven shots he faced when New Hampshire visited Northeastern at Parsons Field on Sept. 22, 2015, conceding the game-winner by the Wildcats during the 48th minute. The Huskies' back unit withstood the majority of New Hampshire's 19 shots, which remained the most NU would oppose throughout the 2015 season. Besides trailing UNH in shots, the Huskies drew the Wildcats offside three times and held a slight advantage in corners at 6-5.
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UP NEXT
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Northeastern will spend the duration of week five on the road, resuming conference play on Saturday, Sept. 24, at 7 p.m. against Delaware. The Huskies and the Blue Hens are among three teams in the CAA (Hofstra) that picked up three points during their first league match of 2016.