Oct. 12, 2010
New Hampshire Wildcats (5-2-3) at Stony Brook Seawolves (7-5-1)
Wednesday, Oct. 13 | LaValle Stadium | Stony Brook, N.Y. | 7 p.m.
LIVE: STATS | VIDEO
New Hampshire Wildcats (5-2-3, 0-1-1 America East)
Head Coach: Rob Thompson, 16th season
Career Record: 120-116-45
Record at Albany: Same
Stony Brook Seawolves (7-5-1, 1-1-0 America East)
Head Coach: Cesar Markovic, seventh season
Career Record: 151-124-32
Record at SBU: 55-57-20
The Matchup
Stony Brook and New Hampshire square off in a critical America East match as both teams try to position themselves for a first-round bye in the America East Championship. The Seawolves are riding high, having gone 6-1-1 over their last eight matches, including a 2-0 win at Albany last Saturday. The Wildcats have hit a speed bump; after going unbeaten in their first seven matches, they have since lost to Vermont and Michigan State while tying UMBC. This is the 11th all-time meeting between the two clubs, and UNH leads 4-2-4. The teams have tied in each of the last two seasons and three of the last four. Stony Brook last won a match in this series in 2005. Stony Brook is 1-0-3 all-time against New Hampshire at home. This might be a low-scoring affair as it features the No. 1 (Colin O'Donnell) and No. 2 (Stefan Manz) keepers in the league in shutouts.
Scouting the Opponent
New Hampshire is looking to snap a three-match winless streak after starting the season unbeaten through its first seven matches. The Wildcats have wins over Central Connecticut State, Presbyterian, Bryant, Massachusetts and Fairfield. More recently, UNH has suffered in conference play, losing at Vermont and tying UMBC at home. UNH has yet to score a goal in conference play and has not scored a goal over the team's last 374 minutes. The team is averaging just 0.8 goals per match as it struggles with the loss of first-team All-Conference forward Chris Banks, who led the Wildcats in scoring in 2009. New Hampshire was coming off an undefeated America East campaign in 2009, winning the regular season title with a 6-0-1 record, but the Wildcats fell short of their goal as they were upset by UMBC in the America East Championship semifinals. UNH's top player this season has been senior keeper Colin O'Donnell, who has a 0.51 goals against average and five shutouts this season. He was last season's America East Goalkeeper of the Year.
Last Time Out
Stony Brook captured its first America East victory of the season with a 2-0 win at Albany last Saturday. The Seawolves dominated most of the match, but scoring didn't take place until the 61st minute when Leonardo Fernandes banged home a goal off a rebound from his own free kick. It was Fernandes' sixth goal of the season and his third game-winner, both of which lead the Seawolves. Raphael Abreu tallied his third goal of the season with a late-match score on a pass from Kyle Schlesinger. Stefan Manz recorded his fourth shutout of the season with five saves.
Into the Rankings
Stony Brook has moved up in this week's BigAppleSoccer.com top 10 poll. The Seawolves have surpassed BIG EAST member St. John's into the No. 2 spot, behind only Monmouth, which is ranked No. 12 in the nation and went to the NCAA Tournament last season. The Seawolves are also knocking on the door of the NSCAA/hendrickcars.com Northeast Region poll. Two weeks ago, they were ranked No. 10, but fell out after a loss to BU. They are currently receiving votes in the poll.
Fernandes Rules the Conference Once More
On Oct. 11, Leonardo Fernandes was named America East Player of the Week for the second time this season after scoring the game-winning goal to lift Stony Brook to a 2-0 win at Albany. Fernandes is tied for second in the conference in goals and game-winning goals. He is also fifth in overall points.
Learning on the Road
Stony Brook's 2-0 win at Albany on Oct. 9 was the program's first America East road victory since Oct. 27, 2007, a 2-0 win at Maine. The Seawolves had gone 0-4-3 away from LaValle Stadium since.
A Late Bloomer
Leonardo Fernandes leads Stony Brook in goals, and all of them have been timely. All six of his goals this season have come in the 60th minute or later and three of them have been game-winners.
Timely Keeping
Stefan Manz has had a strong performance in net this season. After a shaky start, he has won six of his last eight matches (6-1-1) and has allowed only eight goals in that span. His 2-0 win at Albany on Oct. 9 was his fourth shutout of the season, tying him for second in America East. He is also second in saves and seventh in GAA.
Most Valuable Player
When Leonardo Fernandes scores, Stony Brook is usually in good shape. The Seawolves are 4-1-0 this season and 8-2-1 all-time when he scores a goal in a match.
Gobeil Cruz earns an accolade
Berian Gobeil Cruz was named BigAppleSoccer.com's Men's College Player of the Week on Sept. 27 after scoring a pair of goals to lead Stony Brook to a tie against Harvard and a win over Quinnipiac.
Fernandes Earns Multiple Honors
Leonardo Fernandes scored seven points the weekend of Sept. 17-19 and has been recognized for his efforts. He was named the America East Player of the Week and the SimplexGrinnell Stony Brook Athlete of the Week and was selected to the College Soccer News National Team of the Week.
Four Goals A Plenty
Stony Brook had an offensive outburst against Central Connecticut State Sept. 17, beating the Blue Devils 4-2. The four goals were the most by a Stony Brook team since putting five on the board on Sept. 11, 2005.
Beating One of the Best
On Sept. 12, the Seawolves knocked off Dartmouth 1-0 on its home field in the Dartmouth Classic Tournament. Stony Brook got a goal from Berian Gobeil Cruz in the 34th minute and keeper Stefan Manz made four saves to preserve the shutout. The victory was big for SBU considering that Dartmouth was receiving votes in last week's NSCAA/hendrickcars.com National Rankings and was fourth in the Northeast Region poll.
Looking For Two Straight
Last season was a magical one for Stony Brook as the Seawolves finished the regular season with a five-match unbeaten streak to get into the America East Tournament, where they dispatched Hartford and UMBC to win the conference title, just the second in program history. This season's squad will look to replicate that success and bring the Seawolves back to the NCAA Tournament.
