Warriors Edge Le Moyne, 3-2, in NE-10 Thriller
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Guided by a trio of players finding the back of the net, the Merrimack women's soccer team edged visiting Le Moyne College, 3-2, in an intense Northeast-10 Conference showdown on Saturday night at Martone-Mejail Field.
With the match tied with just less than 30 minutes to play, junior forward Danielle Dion (Grosvenordale, Conn.) headed home a loose ball in the box on a feed from senior back Krista Fazio (Syosset, N.Y.), propelling the Warriors (6-2, 4-1 NE-10) to victory on their home turf.
After Merrimack took a one-goal lead into the locker room, the Dolphins (2-4-1, 0-4-1 NE-10) answered to tie the game in the 59th minute on a penalty kick goal from Kate Deasy, but Dion responded just over four minutes later to give the home side it would never relent.
Fazio came away on the far side of the pitch and sent a cross into the box looking for an attacker. After the ball went untouched for a moment, Dion promptly pounced, heading it over Le Moyne goalkeeper Tori Corsaro for her team-leading ninth goal of the year.
The Dolphins would maintain the pressure over the remaining 30 minutes, but the Warrior defense did not break in the waning moments, as junior Nicole Curtis (Billerica, Mass.) picked up the win in net thanks to her seven-save performance. Corsaro, meanwhile, finished with 12 stops for the visitors.
Merrimack saw two different players find the back of the net in the first half, led by freshman Jenna Savi (Dedham, Mass.), who led all players with three points on the day, including her first career goal to get the Warriors on the board.
Savi gave the Warriors an early lead in the 20th minute, taking a pass from sophomore Katie Bresciani (Hopedale, Mass.) across the penalty line before blasting it into the lower-left corner of the net, handing the home side a 1-0 advantage on her first collegiate goal.
That lead would hold for nearly 20 minutes, but in the 41st minute Christie Morano ripped a bullet that found the twine on the left side, tying the match at 1-1 by means of her team-leading eighth marker of the season.
But the late dramatics would continue moments later, as Savi found herself involved again in another scoring opportunity with 20 seconds left in the half. The freshman forward ripped a shot from the top of the box that Corsaro made an initial save on, but junior Sami Brady (Rockland, Mass.) was positioned perfectly to bury the rebound, giving the Warriors a 2-1 advantage that it would take into the break.
"We were fortunate to come away with the win tonight, that's for sure," head coach Gabe Mejail said afterward. "Le Moyne can certainly score in bunches, but I was happy that we kept our composure and came up with the goal we needed down the stretch."
Both sides combined for an impressive 43 shot attempts, with Merrimack leading in that category by a 24-19 margin. Merrimack owned a dominant 10-1 edge in corner kicks, as well.
Next up, the Warriors remain at home to face NE-10 rival UMass-Lowell on Tuesday (Sept. 26) afternoon. First whistle from Martone-Mejail Field is set for 4 p.m.
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