Wildcats prepare to take on Catamounts

The University of New Hampshire men’s soccer team will be playing against The University of Vermont Catamounts on Saturday at 2 p.m. The game will be held at the Catamounts home turf at Virtue Field in Burlington, Vt. 

UNH will look to bounce back after suffering it’s second consecutive loss following Tuesday night’s game, where the Wildats lost at Holy Cross 1-0. With the loss, UNH moves to 5-6-3 overall and 1-2-1 in American East play.

New Hampshire played an even opponent in Holy Cross as they shared shots with nine apiece.

Overall, both teams went back and forth with scoring chances but the match was more of a defensive battle between UNH goaltender Blake Down and Holy Cross goaltender Kevin Wright. 

Blake Down (0-3-0) managed to save two shots, but allowed a goal in the 70 minute mark off the foot of the Crusader’s Tommy Uttaro, who tucked the ball out of Downs reach hitting the far side of the net. Kevin Wright (2-2-2) came out with a shutout making two saves. 

The key players to watch for on the UNH squad are offensive weapons Robert
Palumbo, Jordan Thomas and David Schlatter, all of whom are tied for the team lead in goals with three each. 

Also, watch for goalkeeper Travis Worra who looks to bounce back from his last start where he let up three goals against Albany. Worra holds a strong record of 5-2-3 on the season with three shutouts. 

Vermont played Binghamton in their last match on Saturday, Oct. 13, where they came out with a 1-0 victory in double overtime. Following the win, the Catamounts improve to 6-4-4 on the season and 3-0-1 in America East play. Vermont is on a hot streak posting a 5-1-4 record in their last 10 games. 

The key player to watch out for on the UVM squad is offensive player Joe Losier, who leads the team in points with 14 and has been the clutch player as of late for the Catamounts after converting a penalty kick in the 104th minute in order to seal the game for Vermont during its last outing versus Binghamton. Another key player to watch is goaltender Conor Leland (5-2-3), who posts a .93 goal against average and has four shutouts.