Norwich Spoils Senior Day Bid for Men's Soccer, 2-1

THE BASICS

Score: Emmanuel College, 1 vs. Norwich University, 2

Records: Emmanuel College Saints (7-5-2, 4-4-1), Norwich University Cadets (10-2, 8-1 GNAC)

Location:  Boston, Mass. – Clemente Field

Date: Saturday, October 16, 2021

THE LEAD: Norwich University netted a controversial goal in the 85^th minute of play to slip past Emmanuel College, 2-1, in Great Northeast Athletic Conference men's soccer action on Saturday afternoon at Roberto Clemente Field in Boston, Mass.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• NU junior forward Joseph Thongsythavong (Salem, Mass.) was the beneficiary of a no-call that resulted in the game-winner with 5:43 to play in regulation. Following an Emmanuel clearance that caught several players on the Cadets behind the Saints last defender, Norwich played a through ball to Thongsythavong on the right wing in what appeared to be in an offsides position by several yards but no call was made and Thongsythavong calmly tucked the ball away into the far post for his team and GNAC leading 16^th goal of the campaign to put the Cadets on top, 2-1.
• Emmanuel pushed for the equalizer down the stretch and senior Robert Danielian (Watertown, Mass.) had the best chance with a header off of a free kick by junior Alec Erskine (Coventry, Conn.) that sailed just over the bar with 4:49 to play.
• The Saints had three more shots over the final three minutes of play but were unable to find the back of the net as the Cadets held on for the 2-1 road victory.
• Earlier in the half, EC appeared to also net a go-ahead goal when the score was deadlocked at 1-1 as senior Kyle King (Gorham, Maine) headed a ball right in front of the goal mouth that Emmanuel players believed crossed the line with 26:16 to play in regulation.
• Norwich opened the afternoon's scoring in just 6:55 into the contest scoring off a cornerkick. Senior Alex Branna (Oneonta, N.Y.) took the kick and found Thongsythavong on the back post who headed it to senior midfielder Amerle Nemeye (Burlington, Vt.). Nemeye headed home his seventh goal to give Norwich the early 1-0 advantage.
• EC evened the score at the 26:56 marker as Erskine converted a penalty kick for his team-leading 10^th goal of the year to make it 1-1.

BY THE NUMBERS

• The Cadets finished the afternoon outshooting Emmanuel by a 15-12 margin.
• Norwich also dominated the corner kicks, with an 8-4 advantage over the Saints.
• NU keeper Robert Wagenseller () made six saves to improve to 10-2 on the year while EC senior Vincent Conelli (West Hartford, Conn.) was strong in defeat, making five stops to fall to 4-4-2 on the year.
• Erskine's 10^th goal of the campaign marks just the fifth time in program history that an Emmanuel player has netted double-digit goal totals and he is now one goal shy of tying his own single-season goal record of 11 from the 2019 campaign.
• Norwich has dominated the all-time career series vs. Emmanuel improving to 19-0-4 all-time.

OF NOTE

• Prior to the start of the match, the Emmanuel Athletic Department honored the eight senior members of the class of 2022 in a "Senior Day" ceremony. The Saints honored seniors Matthew LaMondia (East Longmeadow, Mass.), Conelli, Ethan Skinner (Guilford, Conn.), Danielian, Campbell Shealy (Lexington, S.C.), Kyle Monaghan (Monson, Mass.), Samuel Burghardt (Gorham, Maine), and King.

WHAT'S NEXT?

• Emmanuel returns to the pitch on Wednesday, October 20 on the road vs. University of Saint Joseph (CT) at 4:00 PM in GNAC play.
• Norwich is back in action on Monday hosting Northern Vermont-Lyndon in non-conference action at 7:00 PM at Sabine Field.