Men's Soccer Holds Off Post in 2010 Debut
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass.- The Merrimack men's
soccer team began the new season with a hard-fought 2-1 victory
over Post in the final game of the first day of the Merrimack
Warrior Invitational. With the win, the Warriors move to 1-0-0 on
the year while the Eagles fall to 0-1-0.
Senior Adam Leone
(East Northport, N.Y.) tallied Merrimack's first
goal of the 2010 campaign. The product of East Northport, N.Y.,
elevated and headed the ball into the back of the net off of a
corner kick from freshman Rafael
Cabral (Woburn, Mass.), just four
minutes into the contest.
Nelson Santos De Graca (Gothenburg,
Sweden) came close to making the score 2-0. The sophomore
flicked the ball off of a throw-in but the ball hit the crossbar.
Moments later, Paul
Correia (Revere, Mass.) found Pena
with a through-ball behind the defense. Pena beat the Post keeper
for the Warriors second goal of the game.
Post got on the board with 10 minutes remaining in the first
half. Franzy Noze used an overhead kick to put the ball in an open
net to cut Merrimack's lead to 2-1.
Both teams battled in the second half with Post looking for an
equalizer and Merrimack eying an insurance goal. Neither team could
find the back of the net in the second period. The Eagles held the
advantage in shots on the night, 15-10. However, the Warriors fired
seven shots on frame compared to six by Post. The Eagles were
awarded 10 corner kicks on the night while Merrimack earned
three.
Senior goalkeeper Kevin Joyce
(Mansfield, Mass.) made five saves on the night en
route to the win. Errol Reid turned aside five shots as well, for
the Eagles.
"The young guys really responded to the college game. They went
out there and played their hearts out," said head coach Tony
Martone on the freshmen. "The freshmen had a solid contribution to
tonight's win. Franklin (Pena) played very hard, scoring a quality
goal and defending well too. Francis (Mulkern) and Rafael (Cabral)
both did great offensively and defensively."
Merrimack returns to the pitch Saturday, Sept. 4, as it takes on
Dominican at 4 p.m. in the final game of the Warrior
Invitational.
Dominican downed American International 2-0 in the opening
contest. The Chargers netted two first half goals and held on for
the win.
