GORHAM, Maine – Senior
Faisal Abdallah (Accra, Ghana) scored twice, and sophomore
Lucas Houghton (Ridgefield, Wash.) buried the game-winner as Plymouth State University blanked the University of Southern Maine, 4-0, in a Little East Conference men's soccer match at Hannaford Field on Wednesday night.
Senior
Nicolas Cornejo Mora (Durham, N.H.) went full extension for a beautiful diving save in the eighth minute and classmate
Nolan McMann (Millville, Mass.) deflected a Huskies' header in the 35th minute to help keep the game scoreless. The Panthers finally broke through when Houghton delivered a perfect volley on a long cross off the foot of junior
Massimo Korcsog (Ottawa, Ontario) to give PSU the lead in the 38th minute.
PSU rode the momentum, with Abdallah breaking past the defense to convert a perfect feed past the goalkeeper to double the margin just 1:17 later. Abdallah made it 3-0 with 1:22 left in the first half with a turnaround shot inside the right post and PSU would coast the rest of the way.
Plymouth State moves to 4-4-2 (1-1-1 LEC), while the Huskies slide to 1-4-5 (0-1-2 LEC).
The Basics:
- Plymouth State 4, Southern Maine 0
- Plymouth State (4-4-2, 1-1-1 LEC)
- Southern Maine (1-4-5, 0-1-2 LEC)
How it Happened:
- Cornejo Mora was tested in the eighth minute on a shot from ten yards out on the right side. He made a full extension dive to his right to deny the attempt and the PSU defense recovered to prevent a rebound attempt.
- Senior Sondre Asheim (Klepp, Norway) nearly scored on a beautiful drive from 40 yards out a minute later, but his rocket to the top left corner hit the crossbar.
- USM had another scoring opportunity with ten minutes left in the half as a cross from the right corner found the head of a Huskies' forward, but McMann deflected the initial shot and Cornejo Mora smothered the rebound to keep the game scoreless.
- Plymouth State took advantage, breaking the ice roughly two minutes later. Senior John Christie (Pembroke, Mass.) played a ball to the right side that Korcsog delivered into the box. Houghton got in front of a defender to touch the ball over the goalkeeper and into the top left corner for the 1-0 lead in the 38th minute.
- Christie caused a turnover just over midfield shortly thereafter and Asheim carried the ball into USM territory before splitting the defense with a perfect through ball. Abdallah outran the defense and showed great touch to slip the ball past the charging goalie to make it 2-0 in the 39th minute.
- PSU took advantage of a foul late with 1:31 left in the half. Senior August Westerholm (Stockholm, Sweden) sent the free kick to the top of the box and Abdallah settled before blasting a turnaround shot inside the right post for a 3-0 lead at the break.
- The three-goal margin was plenty, but Southern Maine provided a gift own goal in the 66th minute to cap the scoring. A USM defender played the ball back and the goalkeeper lost his footing as the ball rolled into the unguarded net to account for the final score.
By the Numbers:
- Houghton potted his second goal of the year, while Abdallah now leads the LEC with six goals on the year.
- Cornejo Mora finished with seven saves to post his second clean sheet of the year.
- PSU held a 21-11 advantage in shots and doubled up the Huskies (14-7) in shots on goal.
- Each side earned two corner kicks.
- Plymouth State has controlled the all-time series by a 26-9-4 margin.
- The recent series had been tight, with the previous five meetings resulting in two ties and three one-goal decisions.
Up Next:
- Plymouth State heads to WestConn on Saturday (Oct. 5) for a 1:00 p.m. matchup with the Wolves in another LEC contest.
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