NCAA TOURNAMENT: #16 Men's Soccer Looks For First-Ever NCAA Win vs. Franklin Pierce
LINKS: Live Stats | Championship Program | Twitter (@MC_Athletics) | Interactive Bracket
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – After earning the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament berth earlier this week, the No. 16 Merrimack men's soccer team opens tournament play on the road against a familiar foe in Northeast-10 Conference rival Franklin Pierce in a First Round showdown on Friday night on the campus of Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, N.H. First whistle is set for 6 p.m.
The Warriors (14-3-2) and Ravens (11-5-2) are no strangers, as the Friday night matchup will be the third meeting this season between the two conference rivals.
In the most recent showdown, Merrimack escaped with a 1-0 victory over the Ravens in the NE-10 Championship Semifinals. In that game, freshman forward Douglas Searl (Westford, Mass.) tallied the game's lone goal, as the Warriors advanced to the NE-10 Finals before eventually falling, 2-1, to 10th-ranked Southern New Hampshire in the title game.
Searl has had a say in the game-winners in both meetings against Franklin Pierce this season, as the rookie tallied his first collegiate goal in the 79th minute back on Oct. 10 to push the Warriors to a 1-0 road victory in early October in Rindge, N.H.
Leading the Warriors on the offensive end of the pitch is senior forward Franklin Lemus Pena (Revere, Mass.), who was named the NE-10 Player of the Year two weeks ago. The striker leads the team with 16 points on six goals and six helpers through 19 games this season.
Joining Lemus Pena on the All-Conference NE-10 First Team was sophomore goalkeeper Jose Silva (Northborough, Mass.), who has enjoyed remarkable success in his first season as a starter. The Northborough, Mass., native as gone 13-3-2 between the pipes while boasting a 0.57 GAA and .875 SV%, both of which rank at the top of the NE-10 leader boards.
Franklin Pierce, a perennial power, is coming off an appearance in the NCAA Final Four last season, which marked the program's fourth appearance in the national semifinals. The Ravens knocked off SNHU, 1-0, in the Super Regional championship last fall before bowing out to Lynn.
The Ravens have been guided by a pair of All-NE-10 First-Team defenders in Daniel Donaldson and Tyler Rosa. Meanwhile, the FPU offense has been led by freshman midfielder Nico Mueller, who was named the NE-10 Rookie of the Year, while also picking up a spot on the All-NE-10 Second-Team. Mueller leads the team in goals (7) and points (18) this fall.
The winner will have the unenviable task of facing the 10th-ranked Penmen on Sunday afternoon in the second round. SNHU earned the first-round bye after downing the Warriors in the NE-10 Championship Finals. Whoever comes away with the victory on Sunday will match up against the No. 1, No. 4, or No. 5 seed from the other sub-regional which features top-ranked LIU Post, UMass-Lowell and Post University.
Lowell and Post will square off in the first round on Friday at 7 p.m., with the winner taking on LIU Post in the second round on Sunday at 4 p.m. The two sub-regional winners will face each other the following weekend on Nov. 15 or 16, before the national quarterfinals take place on Nov. 17 or 18.
The last four teams standing in the hunt for the Division II National Championship will meet in the Final Four in Evans, Ga., from Nov. 29-Dec. 1.
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