No. 9 Field Hockey Aims for Fourth NE-10 Win, Welcomes Southern Connecticut Friday Night
WARRIORS LOOK TO KEEP PACE WITH NE-10 LEADERS WITH CONFERENCE WIN FRIDAY VS. SCSU
Links: Live Stats | Video | Follow @MC_Athletics
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Coming off a dominating victory at home against ninth-ranked Bentley University just two nights earlier, the No. 9 Merrimack College field hockey team will look for back-to-back Northeast-10 Conference victories when it welcomes Southern Connecticut State University for a league Friday night showdown tomorrow, Oct. 11, at Martone-Mejail Field. First whistle is set for 7 p.m.
The Basics
Date/Time: Friday, Oct. 11, 2013 | 7 p.m.
Records: Merrimack (7-4, 3-1 NE-10) | SCSU (2-8, 2-2)
Location: Martone-Mejail Field | North Andover, Mass.
Last Time Out: Merrimack 3, Bentley 0 (Oct. 9, 2013)
Highlighted by a dominant defense showing and a combination of four different point-scorers on offense, Merrimack dominated Bentley University, 3-0, in a Wednesday night Northeast-10 Conference battle at Martone-Mejail Field.
While four different players tallied at least a point in Wednesday night's all-around complete victory, the star of the show was the defense, which posted its second shutout of the season in absolutely suffocating fashion on Wednesday night.
The Warriors yielded just five shot attempts to the visiting Falcons, with a meager three on target, but even more eye-popping was the fact that the Warriors held a 9-0 advantage in penalty corners, indicating that Bentley's offense was hardly able to generate anything over the 70-minute span.
Last Season vs. Southern Connecticut
In the only meeting of the season between the two teams, senior Candace Waldie led all scorers with five points (2g, 1a) to lead the Warriors to a 4-0 blanking over Southern Connecticut State on Sept. 20 in North Andover.
While Waldie was busy lighting up the scoreboard on offense, Merrimack's defense was stellar in last year's contest, posting its fourth consecutive shutout in the process thanks to an eight-save effort from 2013 alum Kerri Berguist. Merrimack boasted an astounding 47-15 advantage in shot attempts on the game and a 20-11 edge in penalty corners.
The Warriors:
- Sit alone in third place in the NE-10 standings, shy of second-place Stonehill (4-0) nad first-place LIU Post (5-0), both of which are still unbeaten on the season
- Have gone 5-1 in their last six contests, with the lone blemish a 4-3, double-overtime loss to LIU Post last weekend
- Rank third in the league in scoring offense (3.5 GPG) and sixth in scoring defense (2.06 GAA)
- Feature conference scoring leaders in both Waldie (25 points – fourth) and classmate Jessica Otis (24 points – fifth), while Otis' eight assists are tied for second in the NE-10, with Waldie right behind with seven
- Madison Davis' 1.71 GAA is good for fourth-best among all league netminders
The Owls:
- Sit in a tie for second place at 2-2 in league play with Saint Michael's but have gone just 2-8 overall
- Are in the midst of a two-game losing streak after winning their only two games of the year in succession against Saint Anselm and American International on Sept. 28 and Oct. 1, respectively
- Before then, the Owls started the year winless in their first six games
- Rank tied for last in scoring offense (1.8 GPG) and last in scoring defense (4.18 GAA)
- Audrey Dolloff's 124 saves are far and away the most among all conference goalkeepers this season, as SCSU's primary netminder has been plenty busy between the pipes in 2013
--
For continuing coverage of Merrimack College Athletics, visit MerrimackAthletics.com and follow the Warriors on Twitter and on Facebook.
