UNH gets its kicks at Hofstra
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. -- On a windy rain-soaked field, senior kicker Tom Manning kicked a school record 54 yard field goal with 10 minutes left to play and a 44 yarder with 5:36 to play, to lead the University of New Hampshire to an 18-10 Colonial Athletic Association victory over Hofsra University at Shuart Stadium on Saturday night.
The Wildcats improved to 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the CAA, while Hofstra fell to 4-4 and 2-3 in the conference.
Manning booted a 54-yard field goal with 10 minutes to play in the contest to give UNH a 13-7 advantage. The ball sailed through the uprights and broke UNH's all-time record of 53 yards set by Dave Taggart against Northeastern on Oct. 22, 1977. It also tied the Shuart Stadium record set in 2008.
On the next Hofstra drive, the Pride was forced to punt, but the snap was high and went into the end zone and the Wildcats picked up a safety with 8:30 to play and UNH led by eight points, 15-7.
Manning came back on the field again and nailed a 44-yard field goal with 5:36 to play in the contest to increase the UNH lead to 18-7 and the 'Cats were up by 11 points.
Hofstra's Henry Greco kicked a 38-yard field goal with 2:34 to play to cut the lead to 18-10. The Pride then got the football on their own 46-yard line with 2:31 to play in the game after a successful onside kick and moved the ball to the UNH 6-yard line with under a minute to play in the game. On fourth down and 6 quarterback Cory Christopher overthrew his intended receiver, Everett Benjamin, in the end zone, who was covered by sophomore Ryan McGuinness.
UNH took over won the 6-yard line with 38 seconds to play and ran out the clock after taking a knee.
In UNH's opening drive of the second half, junior quarterback R.J. Toman scrambled left and threw a pass to the end zone for 40 yards to sophomore Mickey Mangieri. The TD helped the Wildcats build a 10-0 lead with 13:21 to go in the third quarter.
Hofstra bounced back with a long drive of its own that ended with a 3-yard TD run by Christopher at 5:56 of the third quarter and the Wildcat lead was cut to 10-7.
In the first half, the only scoring came after senior defensive lineman Jordan Long recovered a fumble on Hofstra's 22-yard line, but the Wildcats were unable to get into the end zone. However, Manning came in and kicked a 30-yard field goal with 11:35 to play in the first quarter.
One of the key stats of the first half was time of possession, as UNH had the ball for just 8:56 as compared to 21:04 by Hofstra. The Pride also outgained the Wildcats by a 143-72 margin. Hofstra also suffered three turnovers wth two fumbles lost and one interception, while UNH fumbled just before the half and the Pride recovered to run out the half.
Toman finished the game 14 for 21 for 148 yards and no intereceptions. Senior Chad Kackert led the running game with 10 carries for 75 yards. Senior tight end Scott Sicko had four catches for 28 yards.
Defensively, junior linebacker Devon Jackson led UNH with 11 tackles and senior linebacker Sean Ware had 10 in the contest. Senior corner Ryan Hinds had an interception.
