SNHU Advances to Quarterfinals

Burnette's Golden Goal Leads Penmen to Elite 8

November 14, 2009

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- A header goal off a corner kick by sophomore P.J. Burnette (Brunswick, Maine) with 6:41 remaining in double overtime lifted third-seeded Southern New Hampshire University to a 1-0 win over No. 2 seed Wilmington University in the second round of the NCAA Division II men�s soccer East Regional Saturday at Larkin Field.

Mike Adam's corner kick led to the game-winning goal for Southern New Hampshire Saturday. (Photo courtesy of SNHU Athletics)

The Penmen, who improved to 14-4-3 overall, advance to the national quarterfinals for the eighth time in program history, and first since 2002, while the Wildcats see their season come to a close at 19-3-1 overall. Wilmington also saw a 16-game unbeaten streak snapped with the loss.

Southern New Hampshire must wait until Sunday to learn its next opponent, as it will face the winner of Sunday�s East Region semifinal between top-seeded Le Moyne College and fifth-seeded Franklin Pierce University.

If Le Moyne wins, the Penmen would be headed to Syracuse, N.Y. next weekend, while a Raven victory would have SNHU hosting the game next Saturday (Nov. 21) at 1 p.m.

The Penmen would convert on their sixth corner kick of the contest. Mike Adam (Ludlow, Mass.) lifted a right-to-left corner kick into the box that found the head of Burnette in the middle of the box, past Wilmington keeper Duhan Malali. Burnette headed home the point-blank opportunity for his fourth goal of the season.

Southern New Hampshire carried play for much of the contest, outshooting Wilmington 15-4 in the second half and the two overtime sessions and 19-7 overall. Penmen goalkeeper Joey Kapinos (Ludlow, Mass.) registered his second straight shutout by making one save, while Malali turned aside six shots for the Wildcats.

The Penmen had five players named to the sub-Regional All-Tournament team. Adrian Schippers (Ashby, Mass.) was named the Outstanding Offensive Player, while Richard Kentish was the Outstanding Defensive Player. Burnette, Kapinos and Marc Goulet (Plainville, Conn.) were also named to the team.

Sargbah Tarpeh, Fatoma Turay, Dave Dease and Tony DiVirgilio were selected to the team from Wilmington, while Southern Connecticut�s Germain Delage and Jeremy Tavares were also named to the squad.

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