McAdam's OT Goal lifts Merrimack past #1 Le Moyne in NE-10 Championship
McAdam's Game-Winning Goal and Celebration / NE-10 Championship Report (.pdf)
Thanks to Pack Network and Northeast-10 TV for the clip
SYRACUSE, NY – With 0.8 seconds left in first overtime,
sophomore and tournament MVP Brad McAdam (Nashanic
Station, NJ) rifled a top-shelf blast past #1 Le Moyne
College's Matt Krupka to give #7 Merrimack a 12-11 win and the
school's second ever Northeast-10 Championship Sunday afternoon in
Syracuse.
For Merrimack (13-3), it was the first Northeast-10 Championship
since 2000 when head coach Mike Morgan played for
the Warriors. Merrimack defeated Le Moyne 12-7 in 2000 and
has since made four trips to the title game, including the last two
seasons.
“It's hard to describe how proud I am of these
guys,” said a near-speechless Morgan on the sidelines
following the overtime victory. “I could tell our guys
had a different sense of purpose coming into the game. Even
when Le Moyne made their run, we hung tough and did what we needed
to do. All in all, I couldn't be happier for our team.”
Despite winning its second-career Northeast-10 title, #7
Merrimack was not selected for the NCAA Tournament, which was
announced late Sunday night. The Warriors' three losses, including
two non-conference defeats to NYIT and St. Leo's, hurt their
chances for their second straight appearance. Le Moyne, Limestone,
Dowling and C.W. Post were selected to the Division II Final Four.
The Warriors finish their season 13-3 overall after defeating
previously #1 and unbeaten Le Moyne 12-11 in overtime Sunday in the
Northeast-10 Championship.
For Le Moyne, it was their first loss of the season and second
in the last 43 contests at home. The last was against Bryant
in 2008 when the Dolphins fell in the Northeast-10 Championship.
Despite giving up the game's first goal on Sunday, the Warriors
answered with back-to-back goals from freshman Greg Melaugh
(Billerica, MA) and senior Mark Webber
(Mansfield, MA). Following Webber's unassisted blast
on a delayed transition goal to give Merrimack a 2-1 lead, Le Moyne
scored two goals to take the lead back at 3-2, but Northeast-10
Rookie of the Year, Corey Lunney (Little
Silver, NJ) made his presence known at the 13:21 mark of
the second quarter, ripping a shot from the left side to knot the
score at 3-3.
Going into the half tied 4-4 on a Bryan MacPhie
(Scarborough, ME) score, the Warriors came out firing in
the second when McPhie added two more in the first five minutes of
second half play. MacPhie, along with goalkeeper Cory Spinale
(Wakefield, MA) were named to the all-Tournament
team. Spinale made 12 saves, including a game-saving block in
extra time before McAdam's game-winner.
Though Merrimack took an 11-6 lead on McAdam's first goal at
11:52 of the fourth quarter, the Dolphins ran off five straight
goals to tie the score at 11 with 37 ticks remaining. Each
team traded possession in overtime with key defensive stops on both
sides of the ball, but it was Merrimack who had the last shot.
Winning the only face-off of overtime, Merrimack gained
composure after relinquishing a previously comfortable lead late in
the game. McAdam's unassisted goal with less than a second
was his 18th of the season, responsible for shocking Le
Moyne on their home turf.
Despite being out-shot on the day, 44-36, the Warriors
capitalized on extra man opportunities, scoring three goals with a
man-advantage, two of which came in the second half.
SCORING:
#7 Merrimack (13-3): Bryan MacPhie 3-2, Greg Melaugh
2-1, Brad McAdam 2-0, Jordan Tiger 2-0, Michael
Balbuena 1-1, Corey Lunney 1-0,
Mark Webber 1-0. GOALKEEPING: Cory Spinale (W,
63:59, 11 GA, 12 saves).
#1 Le Moyne (14-1): Jack Harmatuk 3-0, Jack
Venditti 3-0, Keith Vetter 2-1, Corey Bulken 1-2, Vinnie Alexander
1-1, Jikado Hanna 1-0. GOALKEEPING: Matt Krupka (OTL,
63:59, 12 GA, 10 saves).
2010 Northeast-10 Conference
All-Championship Team
Brad McAdam (MVP) - MER
Cory Spinale - MER
Bryan MacPhie - MER
Matt Chadderdon - LEM
Keith Vetter - LEM
