MANCHESTER, N.H. – Chris Tsonis scored a pair of goals for the Penmen as the Saint Anselm College men's soccer team was downed by No. 13 Southern New Hampshire University, 5-0, Wednesday night under the lights at Grappone Stadium.
The Hawks now fall to 3-6-1 overall and 3-3-0 in the Northeast-10 conference, while the Penmen improve to a near perfect 9-1-0 overall and 5-1-0 in league play.
Southern New Hampshire jumped on the board first at 14:00 when Tsonis retrieved a dish at the top of the box from Jonathan Lupinelli, at midfield, and blasted the ball into the top right corner of the net past Saint Anselm goalkeeper Eric Moriarty (Center Harbor, N.H.).
The Penmen would then increase their lead to two in the 31st minute when Jordan Branco sent a ball from midfield to Tsonis, who took advantage of a one-on-one with Moriarty, and netted the ball into the mid-right side for his second goal of the night.
Further increasing the Penman lead to three with 3:16 left in the first half was Branco when he snuck a shot between the left post and Moriarty, recording his first goal of the evening.
At 69:37, Mohamed Toufik sent a feed to Miguel Carneiro, who buried the ball into the back of the net past Moriarty's left side, extending the lead to four. After the fourth Southern New Hampshire goal, Saint Anselm keeper Mark Kotsopoulos (Shrewsbury, Ma.) made his debut in the contest.
The final blow came with 34 seconds left on the clock as Brian Mas started a quick sequence of passes to Sebastian Stezewski and then on to Joe Mahr, who riffled the ball into the right side past a diving Kotsopoulos.
The Hawks had a chance to score early in the game, at 5:10, when Bruno Dasilva (Rockland, Mass.), on the top right of the box, received a pass from Maximillian Glebocki (Wilbraham, Mass.), on the right flank, and sent a low shot at the net where it was punched away by diving Southern New Hampshire goalkeeper, Dom Dimaggio.
Saint Anselm stopped three shots, with Moriarty making two saves and Kotsopoulos recording one, while Penman goalkeeper Dimaggio stopped three shots, all in the first half.
The Hawks were outshot 21-8 on the night, including 7-1 in the second half.
Saint Anselm returns to action Saturday, Oct. 6 as the Hawks play host to Southern Connecticut State in a 1 p.m. tilt on Melucci Field. Stay up-to-date with the latest news, including game previews and recaps, directly from the Saint Anselm College athletic department by friending us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/STAHawks) and following us on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/STAHawks).
