PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Junior goalkeeper
Nicolas Cornejo (Durham, N.H.) kicked off the season with a solid performance in front of the net with seven saves to help the Plymouth State University men's soccer team shutout Husson University at Arold Field on Thursday evening.
The Panthers got the scoring started early with goals by sophomore
August Westerholm (Stockholm, Sweden) and junior
Faisal Abdallah (Concord, N.H.) in the first ten minutes of the game. After some incredible defense played by PSU and multiple saves from Cornejo, freshman
Job Boonstoppel (Amstelveen, Netherlands) dropped in a final blow in the 62nd minute to secure the 3-0 win in the season opener.
Plymouth State starts the season at 1-0-0, while Husson drops to 0-1-0 to begin the season.
The Basics:
- Plymouth State 3, Husson 0
- Plymouth State (1-0-0)
- Husson (0-1-0)
Top Performers:
How it Happened:
- The first score of the game came in the sixth minute when Westerholm fired a shot to the lower left off a feed from sophomore John Christie (Pembroke, Mass.) to take an early 1-0 lead.
- PSU extended the score to 2-0 when Abdallah tag-teamed with junior Owen Cottrill (New London, N.H.) to overrun the opposing goalkeeper for the score.
- Husson had an opportunity in the middle of the second half with a pair of corner kicks to the six, but Cornejo was able to save both and fall on the ball to end the offensive attack.
- The Panthers tacked on one final goal to seal the game when Boonstoppel charged in for his first career score with sophomore Sondre Asheim (Klepp, Norway) in a two-on-two situation to account for the 3-0 final score.
By the Numbers:
- Cornejo faced 12 shots and saved all seven on target for a clean sheet to start the season.
- Neither team was able to convert off a corner, though Husson had ten corners to PSU's three.
- Plymouth State had total shots, while Husson had 12.
- Westerholm and Boonstoppel scored their first career goals, while Abdallah's tally was the second of his career.
Up Next:
- The Panthers stay home to face UMaine Farmington on Saturday (Sept. 3) at 3:00 p.m. as part of a season-opening five-game homestand.
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