Saint Rose Blanks Women's Soccer, 3-0
ALBANY, N.Y. – The Merrimack women's soccer team attempted 15 shots against defending national champion Saint Rose, but the Golden Knights garnered all of the game's offense en route to a 3-0 Warrior setback on Saturday afternoon at Sullivan Field.
The loss drops the Warriors 8-6 on the season with a 6-5 record within the Northeast-10 Conference. The Golden Knights, meanwhile, improve to 11-1-2 and 8-1-2 in league play.
Losers of a season-high three straight games, Merrimack allowed a pair of first-half goals to find itself in a two-goal hole at the break, and the home side added one late insurance strike with 15 minutes to play to seal the defeat.
Junior forward Jenna Zechner (Billerica, Mass.) attempted a team-high four shots, while junior goalkeeper Nicole Curtis (Billerica, Mass.) notched three saves in net for the visitors, but their combined efforts would not be enough to down the defending league and national champions.
"Hats off to a very talented Saint Rose team, they beat us fair and square today," head coach Gabe Mejail said afterward. "But at some point we're going to have to turn it around and find some more offense out of this lineup."
Amanda Vasquez put the Golden Knights on the board just 2:52 into the first half, taking a touch pass from Laura Taylor before burying it on the left side of the net to give the home side an early 1-0 advantage.
Zechner nearly evened the game in the 13th minute after coming up with a dangerous strike while storming down the left flank, but the attempt just sailed wide.
Saint Rose doubled the lead to 2-0 in the 26th minute, as Brittany Barry notched an unassisted tally after firing a shot into the upper-right corner of the net from the top of the box.
That lead would hold through the remainder of the first half, as Curtis came up with two saves compared to three for Saint Rose keeper Jessica Gerski.
At the start of the second half, the Warriors upped the pressure and mustered a few early scoring chances but were stymied on each of them.
After dodging a few bullets in the opening 30 minutes of the second stanza, Saint Rose finally notched an insurance goal at 74:54, as Sydney Bond sent home a cross on the left side from Jennifer Busk, wrapping up the scoring with the Golden Knights ahead, 3-0, with 15 minutes to play.
The Warriors earned a pair of late corner kicks, but both opportunities were stifled as Kallina Haase entered the game to play the final 10 minutes in net for Saint Rose, preserving the combined shutout in the process after finishing with two saves.
In total, Saint Rose outshot the Warriors by a 20-15 margin and also earned a 6-3 lead in corner kicks.
Next up, the Warriors conclude their three-game road trip with an NE-10 match at Saint Michael's on Tuesday, Oct. 16. First whistle from Colchester, Vt., is set for 3 p.m.
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