Box Score  | Season Stats

Brookline, Mass. – The Northeastern men's soccer team used a goal from Frantzdy Pierrot in the 39th minute and held off a late surge from New Hampshire to pick up a 1-0 victory on opening night at Parsons Field in front of a crowd of 1,362.
 
Pierrot gave the Huskies the lead late in the first half with a header off an entry pass from Daniel Arvidsson on a corner kick. Fellow freshman Jonathan Thuresson made five saves in his collegiate debut.
 
The Huskies held a 12-9 edge in shots on goal in the match, including a 7-5 lead in shots on goal. UNH goalkeeper Travis Worra made six saves for the Wildcats, who earned five corner opportunities to Northeastern's two.
 
Northeastern dictated the pace of play throughout the first half, outshooting the Wildcats 9-5 (5-1 shots on goal), and taking a 1-0 advantage in the 39th minute.
 
Harry Swartz found the ball on his foot several times during the opening 45 minutes of play as the rookie generated chance after chance for the Huskies. Swartz's best opportunity early in the match came when he threaded a ball into the box right to Pierrot, whose header sailed just over the crossbar. Earlier in the half, Swartz and Brad Fountain nearly connected on a give-and-go down the right side of the field.
 
At the other end of the pitch, Ambry Moss kept the Wildcats at bay, including a strong tackle on Christopher Wingate one yard outside the box, leading to a counter for Northeastern downfield. UNH, however, created a couple of scoring bids with 17 minutes to play in the half from Riley Ennis, including one on goal that Thuresson turned aside.
 
NU started to test Worra with several hard strikes from inside 20 yards on bids from Swartz and Fountain trying to send them into the right side.
 
The Huskies would break through with 6:55 to play in the first half after NU earned a corner to the left of Worra. Arvidsson entered the ball into the middle of the box, and Pierrot got a head on it to send it into the left corner for his first collegiate goal.
 
Play leveled out during the second half as New Hampshire attempted to find the tying goal, and made Thuresson work in spurts during the final 45 minutes. UNH nearly knotted the score at one when Wingate fired a shot on goal that redirected off a Northeastern defender on its way towards goal, but Thuresson adjusted quickly to make the save.
 
Pierrot and Swartz continued to create opportunities on the offensive end, with each rookie almost potting an insurance marker past Worra in the 63rd and 69th minutes, respectively.
 
The Wildcats had another bid with five minutes to play in regulation when David Schlatter got ahold of the ball in the box, but the Northeastern defense clamped down to cause a turnover. One minute later, Thuresson made the save of the game when he got a glove on a Jesus Tedula set piece from 22 yards out before gobbling up an Andrew Chaput header on the ensuing corner.
 
The Huskies will be back in action on Monday night when Northeastern travels to Hartford for a 7 p.m. match.
 
Game Notes:
• Northeastern is now 6-17-1 all-time against New Hampshire, and defeated the Wildcats for the first time since 2003.
 
• Friday marked the fourth straight season that the Huskies won their home opener. NU has outscored their opponents 10-3 in their last four home openers.
 
• Six freshmen (Arvidsson, Fountain, Ackim Mpofu, Pierrot, Swartz and Thuresson) all made their first collegiate starts. Charlton Muhlauri also made his collegiate debut in the second half.
 
• Pierrot netted his first collegiate goal on Friday, while Arvidsson recorded his first collegiate point with an assist on the goal.