Lemus Pena Propels Warriors to 4-0 Win, Clinching NE-10 Regular-Season Title
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Led by two goals from senior forward Franklin Lemus Pena (Revere, Mass.), the No. 16 Merrimack men's soccer team cruised to a 4-0 victory against Saint Rose in their Northeast-10 regular-season finale, as the Warriors clinched the Northeast-10 Regular Season title and the top seed for the upcoming NE-10 Tournament on Senior Night at Martone-Mejail Field.
Finishing the regular season in the midst of an 11-game unbeaten streak, the Warriors improve to 12-2-2 overall and wrap up league play with a 10-2-1 record. The Golden Knights finish the 2012 campaign 1-15 overall and 1-12 within the conference.
After taking the lead in the 32nd minute on a goal from senior Olof Lindhe (Stockholm, Sweden), Merrimack exploded for three second-half goals to put the win in the books. Earlier in the afternoon, previously-first-place UMass-Lowell fell to Stonehill, 2-0, allowing the Warriors – who trailed by a single point in the standings entering Friday – to claim the regular-season title.
Lemus Pena's goals came within a span of five minutes, as sophomore Michael Rincon (Medford, Mass.) and rookie Douglas Searl (Westford, Mass.) earned assists on each goal, respectively. Finally, in the 74th minute, Augusto Silva (Hudson, Mass.) buried his first tally of the year and the final the match, as senior co-captain Nelson Santos Da Graca (Gothenburg, Sweden) and sophomore Ignacio Farias (West Roxbury, Mass.) strung consecutive passes into the box before Silva ripped it into the net to wrap it up.
Playing in place of the injured Jose Silva (Northborough, Mass.), junior Mattias Drummond (Partille, Sweden) stepped in admirably in his first start of the season, posting one save for the home side before giving way to sophomore Andrew Shuttle (Wellesley, Mass.), who played the final 11:43 and posted two stops to close out the match. Todd Lawson finished with three saves and benefitted from two team saves for Saint Rose.
Lindhe put the home side aboard in the 32nd minute, heading in a beautiful corner kick service from Lemus Pena to give Merrimack a 1-0 lead with 14 minutes in the second half. The Warriors outshot Saint Rose 18-4 in the first frame alone.
Nearly 15 minutes into the second half, Lemus Pena doubled the lead after taking a feed from Rincon and burying it into the left side of the net. Five minutes later, it was the Revere, Mass., native again, taking a give-and-go pass from Searl before lofting a high shot into the upper-left corner. Silva wrapped it up after taking two passes in a row from Da Graca and Farias and notching the final marker in the 74th minute to seal the victory.
Claiming its first regular-season title since 1997, the Warriors dominated the match by means of their 28-11 advantage in shot attempts, as well as their 10-2 lead in corner kicks.
Merrimack will next open up the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament on Monday, Oct. 29, at 4 p.m. against an opponent yet to be determined. With the impending storm en route toward the Northeast, start times and dates of the tournament are subject to change.
For details on the upcoming NE-10 Tournament, check back over the course of the weekend on merrimackathletics.com.
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