The celebration is now over as UNH takes on Kentucky today in the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament. (Courtesy photo by China Wong/UNH Athletics)

DURHAM, N.H. – Heading into the America East men’s soccer tournament, University of New Hampshire coach Marc Hubbard was taking stock of his team and mentioned senior Victor Menudier of France, who transferred in from Presbyterian College a couple of years ago.

“We’ve played a lot of guys, again because of the circumstances,” Hubbard said. “And the biggest surprise may have been Victor Menudier. He’s been a center back, playing defense, his whole life and we converted him to forward and he’s been real helpful up there.”

That turned out to be a bit of an understatement and a harbinger of what was to come.

Menudier had scored three goals in UNH’s seven regular season games. He then scored three of the team’s four goals in matching 2-0 shutouts of Hartford and Vermont en route to a third straight America East tournament championship.

Now Menudier and Paul Mayer, also from France, lead the Wildcats and their improved offense into their fourth consecutive appearance in the NCAA men’s soccer tournament.

UNH earned a first-round bye in the tournament and plays Kentucky today at noon in a second-round game at Bryan Park Soccer Complex in Greensboro, N.C. The game will be streamed at www.ncaa.com.

Between them, Menudier and Mayer have scored 11 of the team’s 22 goals, Menudier with his six and Mayer with five and thus have set off half the team’s creative goal celebrations.

“I wasn’t used to scoring a lot of goals, but this year’s it’s changing,” Menudier said on the UNH Wildcast, the podcast presented by Mike Murphy, associate athletic director for Marketing & Communications. “The feeling you have when you score a goal is something special.”

Menudier had scored one goal total in his first three seasons as a defender, two as a regular at Presbyterian and then in 2019 after transferring to UNH and seeing very limited playing time.

He’s getting a kick out of his new role.

“Every time I look at the pictures after the game, it looks like I’m going crazy,” Menudier said. “You’re in such a zone when you score, having fun doing a celebration with your teammates makes it even better. The feeling when you score a goal in soccer it’s like . . . It’s hard to put words on that, but it’s so much fun.”

Those teammates are enjoying it, too. Senior forward Jacob Gould smiles when the subject comes up.

“Victor’s a great dude and I’m super happy for him,” Gould said. “He’s a center back at heart, right? That’s what he was when he first got here. He’s gotten the opportunity to play up top and he’s displaying whey he deserves to be there. . . . He’s been a key factor in all of our wins really.”

UNH takes an 8-0-2 record into the NCAAs. The Wildcats are averaging 2.44 goals a game, which ranks sixth in the country. Menudier is 22nd in the country with .67 goals per game.

Here’s another thing that makes the Victor Menudier story stand out: There was some doubt whether he would return to UNH for this season. He stayed at home during the fall and did his classes in the Peter T. Paul College of Business & Economics online and there was a question, for financial reasons, whether he would be able to come back to campus and continue to play.

He chose to return, not sure what his role would be, and proceeded to become a key piece of the team. After not playing much in 2019, Menudier had begun working out as a forward in the spring of 2020 and he nailed down his spot this spring. In addition, he is thriving in the classroom and will be back in the fall to finish his masters degree in finance, along with his playing career.

Hubbard could not be happier.

He calls Menudier and Mayer “The French Connection” and “The Twin Towers.”

Both are 6-foot-2.

“To have guys of that size and athleticism – and they have good chemistry – it’s been really fun to watch them this season,” Hubbard said. “And it will be fun to continue to watch them next season, too. To see Victor, he’s gone from not playing as a center back to continue to improve and help us and finish goals, it’s incredible. I’m proud of him and proud of the guys.”

TOURNEY NOTES

Tournament games will be streamed at www.ncaa.com…..

Kentucky is 11-4-2, including games in both the fall and spring, and.

is in the tournament for the seventh time in the last nine years…The winner of the UNH-Kentucky contest faces the winner of match between Wake Forest and Coastal Carolina in a third-round game…

UNH is in the NCAA tournament for the fourth consecutive year and fifth time overall…..

Because of the pandemic, all tournament games will be played in the Cary, N.C. area….

All second-round games are Sunday. Third-round games are May 6 and the quarterfinals are May 10…

The College Cup, including the semifinals and finals, are set for May 14 and May 17 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Carey.