DURHAM, N.H. --- UC Irvine men's soccer battled Friday evening with New Hampshire at their Wildcat Stadium, but came up short from a late penalty awarded for a 1-0 loss.
UCI (0-6-1) made their fourth trip to the East Coast in the past five seasons starting with their first matchup with an America East squad since 2006.
The Wildcats (3-3-0) held a slight advantage through the first half out-shooting the Anteaters, 6-1, but both sides could only muster one shot on target as the match drifted into halftime knotted at 0-0.
The second half began with more attacking on either side, especially for UNH who tested Anteater keeper
Luke Pruter who was forced to make four saves including a spectacular dive as the match approached the 77th minute.
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That same minute would turn the match on its head as the ensuing corner kick for New Hampshire was whipped into the box and cleared by Pruter and the defense. Play was stopped on a whistle, and after some conversation with the center referee and both teams, a yellow card was issued to
Ashish Chattha for a hand ball and a penalty kick was awarded to the Wildcats. Nils Buchwalder stepped up and hammered home the goal to break the tie and put UNH on top, 1-0.
UC Irvine continued to fight searching for an equalizer including a chance for
Mario Anaya in the waning seconds, but it floated wide and ended the match at that 1-0 scoreline.
FINAL SCORE: NEW HAMPSHIRE 1, UC IRVINE 0
The loss evens UCI's all-time record against the America East at 2-2 while making the Anteaters 2-4 on the East Coast under head coach
Yossi Raz.
The Anteater offense failed to score for the fourth time this season finishing with six shots to UNH's 16. Chattha and
Eddy Berumen had two each with
Ricardo Ibarra collecting the only shot on target. Pruter made five stops on the evening in net.
The road trip rolls on with a match Sunday, September 18, at another America East opponent, Vermont, with kick off at 4:00 p.m.
