Hempstead, NY - Senior kicker Tom Manning booted three field goals, including a school record 54-yarder, to lead the ninth-ranked Wildcats of New Hampshire to an 18-10 CAA victory over the Hofstra Pride at James M. Shuart Stadium Saturday evening. The Wildcats improve to 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the CAA while the Pride slipped to 4-4 on the season and 2-3 in conference play.

New Hampshire quarterback R.J. Toman completed 14 of 21 passes for 148 yards and one touchdown while senior fullback Chad Kackert rushed for 75 yards on 20 carries. Senior tight end Scott Sicko led the Wildcats receiving corps with four catches for 28 yards while sophomore Mickey Mangieri hauled in two passes for 49 yards including a 40-yard scoring grab in the third quarter.

The Pride was led by senior quarterback Cory Christopher, who completed passes to nine different receivers and finished the game with 217 yards on 20-of-28 passing. He also led the Hofstra ground game with 56 yards on 20 carries including a three-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Junior fullback Everette Benjamin caught five passes for 67 yards while classmate Aaron Weaver tallied four catches for 53 yards.

New Hampshire scored their first three points of the game after a Hofstra fumble in the first quarter and added two more points when a high snap from center sailed over the head of Pride punter Shane Casciano, who gathered up the ball and ran it out of his own end zone for a UNH safety to boost the lead to 15-7. Manning added his third field goal of the game with 5:36 to play in the game to give UNH an 18-7 lead before Pride senior kicker Henry Greco booted a 38-yard field goal to close the deficit to 18-10 with 2:34 remaining.

On the ensuing kickoff, Pride receiver Anthony Nelson recovered the on-side kick at the Hofstra 46-yard line keeping the comeback hopes alive. The Pride drove down to New Hampshire's six-yard line in the final minute with a chance to tie but Christopher's fourth down pass was deflected at the line and sailed over the head of Benjamin secure the win.

Hofstra's defense kept the Pride in the game in the opening half.  New Hampshire's longest first-half drive of its six possessions lasted just 2:02 as the Pride out-gained the visitors, 143-72, though the Wildcats held a 3-0 lead at halftime.

New Hampshire's Kyle Maroney caused the first turnover by knocking the ball out of Christopher's hand and Nick Schmalhofer fell on the loose football for the fumble recovery at the Hofstra 22-yard line on the opening drive. The Pride's defense allowed one first down before forcing the Wildcats to settle for Manning's 30-yard field goal attempt and a 3-0 lead 3:25 into the contest.

Hofstra employed a no-huddle offense on the second drive, nearly leading to a score when Christopher fired a 20-yard strike to a sliding Aaron Weaver (four catches for 53 yards) in the end zone's right corner before the officials ruled Weaver did not have possession of the ball. New Hampshire maintained the three-point lead when kicker Henry Greco hooked a 38-yard field goal attempt wide right.

The two schools then exchanged fumble recoveries to end the opening quarter, including Joe Akabalu's sack and forced fumble before Edmond recovered to stymie New Hampshire's scoring chance.

Hofstra saw a second potential touchdown wiped out late in the half when a holding call negated Everette Benjamin's 25-yard touchdown run on fourth down. The penalty forced the Pride to re-do the play and New Hampshire forced a stop for the turnover-on-downs with 1:53 left.

New Hampshire drove into the red zone before Basim Hudeen forced a fumble and Hartsfield recovered at the 10-yard line with 41 seconds left to keep the Hofstra deficit at three entering halftime.

The Wildcats offense awoke coming out of the break. Mangieri made a juggling catch off Toman's 40-yard touchdown strike in the end zone's back-right corner to complete a five-play, 81-yard drive 1:39 into the second half. The drive exceeded New Hampshire's first-half yardage total in putting the Wildcats up, 10-0, with 13:21 to play in the third quarter.

Christopher responded on the next drive, capping a seven-play drive with a three-yard quarterback keeper up the middle to cut the deficit to 10-7. Center Jaren Harrell kept the drive alive by catching a tipped pass on third-down and rambling 13 yards to set up Christopher's touchdown run with 5:56 to play in the quarter.

Manning provided New Hampshire's first score of the fourth quarter when the senior drilled a New Hampshire-record 54-yard field with the wind, putting the Wildcats up 13-7 five minutes into the final quarter. Manning's long kick tied a Shuart Stadium record set in 1995 by Dave Ettinger and tied in 2008 by Hofstra's Roger Williams.

New Hampshire extended the lead to 15-7 when a poor fourth-down snap sailed over Casciano's head, forcing the punter to retrieve the ball and run out of the end zone for a safety with 8:30 remaining.

Greco made it a one-score game again with 2:34 left with his 38-yard field goal, after a 10-play, 59-yard drive, making it an 18-10 game. With one timeout left, Hofstra elected for an onside kick that Anthony Nelson (three catches, 27 yards) recovered off a deflection to hand possession back to the Pride.

Hofstra then marched 48 yards on seven plays, including Benjamin's 14-yard pick up. Billy Morgan's 23-yard completion, his only reception of the contest, drove Hofstra to the Wildcats' 9-yard line before New Hampshire limited Hofstra to just three more rushing yards and two incompletions to prevent the comeback.

Hofstra sophomore linebacker Greg Melendez posted a game-high 12 tackles and Leslie Jackman broke up two passes as the Pride dropped its seventh consecutive game to the Wildcats. Junior linebacker Devon Jackson recorded 11 tackles and senior linebacker Sean Ware added 10 stops to lead the UNH defense.

After a bye week, Hofstra will hit the road for two road games with a CAA-match-up at Delaware on November 7 at noon.

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