Graduate student Jonathan Cruickshank controls the ball midfield. (image credit: SNHU Penmen).

The Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) men’s soccer team took a trip to Garden City, NY to face off against Adelphi in the semifinals of the Northeast-10 conference championships on November 2. The Penmen went in with promise as they held a two game winning streak, and they were ready to garner revenge against a strong Adelphi line-up who previously beat them 4-2 on September 29 at Penmen Stadium. However, Adelphi was once again victorious, beating the Penmen 1-0 at Adelphi’s Garden City campus.

The first and only point scored throughout the entire game was scored in the first fifteen minutes of the match by Adelphi’s Taylor Kaczynski. Although this ended up being the only point scored, the game was still rather close with the Penmen getting seven shots on goal and 22 shots overall.

The closest the Penmen had to a goal was one in the 89th minute when graduate student Jonathan Cruickshank took a shot at the goal, forcing Adelphi’s goalkeeper, Matt Apicella, to make a save that prevented the goal the Penmen needed to tie the game.

The Penmen played well with many shots on goal throughout the game and even had 13 shots and two on goal shots in the opening stanza. The defensive side on Adelphi was extremely strong, especially at the hands of  Apicella, who stopped seven shots throughout the game.

The Penmen played strong and never gave up, despite the first goal from Adelphi occurring so early in the game. This loss had broken a two game winning streak but the players fought to the end with admirable intensity.

Although the Penmen didn’t win the semifinals, they still showed what they were capable of as they never gave up throughout the entirety of the game. They never stopped trying and still made impressive shots and saves.

The Penmen are now gearing up for the spring season and are prepping for challenging matches ahead that will prepare them for the 2019 season.

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