MANCHESTER, N. H. – Freshman Sean Smith (Hampstead, N.H.) scored a goal off a corner kick in the 59th minute as the Saint Anselm College men's soccer team earned its first victory of the 2012 campaign, taking down unbeaten Saint Michael's College.
With the win, the Hawks now stand at 1-3-0 on the young season, 1-0-0 in Northeast-10 play, while the Purple Knights have a 4-1-0 record and a 0-1-0 mark in conference play.
Saint Anselm's first goal came with just under five minutes to play in the first half on a penalty kick taken by junior George Lamptey (Worcester, Mass.). The ball was sent rocketing into the top left corner of the net past Saint Michael's goalkeeper Logan Kingman, who dove to block the anticipated low shot. Saint Anselm was awarded the penalty kick when Joseph Rispoli (Portsmouth, R.I.) was tripped up in the left side of the box by a Saint Michael's defender after being sent a great feed from Kevin Greene (Londonderry, N.H.).
The Hawks would then increase their lead to two 58:47 into the game when Alex Germaine (Derry, N.H.) sent a ball sailing into the box towards the far post, finding Smith, who headed the ball into the top right corner of the goal.
The lone goal for the Purple Knights came from Anthony Stanley, who was fed a crisp pass from Josh Vlasich and then beat Saint Anselm goalkeeper Eric Moriarty (Center Harbor, N.H.), walking the ball into the net to make the score 2-1.
Moriarty made eight saves to earn the win, while Kingman made five in the loss.
In the first half, Saint Anselm outshot Saint Michael's 5-4, but then the Purple Knights came back to outshoot the Hawks 10-4 in the second frame.
The Hawks return to action Thursday, Sept. 13 as they travel to Queens (N.Y.) College in a 4 p.m. tilt. 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).
