Men's Soccer Takes On No. 10 Southern New Hampshire in NE-10 Championship Finals
THE WARRIORS AND THE PENMEN MEET IN THE NE-10 FINALS FOR THE SECOND STRAIGHT YEAR ON SUNDAY
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NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – After defeating Franklin Pierce, 4-2, in penalty kicks, the Merrimack College men's soccer team travels to Manchester, N.H. to face the No. 10 Southern New Hampshire Penmen Sunday afternoon in the Northeast-10 Conference Championship.
The Basics
Date/Time: Sunday, Nov. 10, 2013 | 1 p.m.
Records: #2 Merrimack (13-3-2) | #3 Southern New Hampshire (17-1)
Location: Larkin Field | Manchester, N.H.
Last Time Out
For the first time since Nov. 2, 2008, the Warriors headed into a penalty kick shootout against the Ravens.
Prior to the penalty kicks, the Ravens held a slight 6-3 edge in shots through the first half. Merrimack earned two corner kicks, while Franklin Pierce earned one in the 45 minutes of play. The Warriors' defense kept the Ravens to only seven shots, while Merrimack earned all five corner kicks awarded in the half. At the end of regulation, both teams remained tied at zero-all.
In both overtime session, neither team could find the back of the net due to both goalkeepers playing with a lot of intentsity and heart. With no one scoring, the game was sent into penalty.
Senior Francis Mulkern (Scituate, Mass.) attempted the first penalty kick, but his shot was declined after hitting the post. Pedro Espindola put the Ravens on the scoreboard first, after his penalty shot was good. The Navy and Gold tied the Ravens,1-1, after sophomore Augusto Silva (Hudson, Mass.) tallied the first penalty kick for the Warriors.
After Franklin Pierce's penalty kick from Terrance Ciavarra did not find the back of the net, Julio Leon Garcia (Caracas, Venezuela) was able to find the back of the net and extended the Warriors lead to 2-1. Franklin Pierce tied the game at 2-all after Chris Stoker was able to put the ball home for the Ravens. Freshman Oscar Zepeda Cagide (Jalisco, Mexico) broke the tie and put the Warriors up 3-2.
After Jefferson Rojas shot was saved by Silva, Ronald Ried (Scwendi, Germany) secured the game at 4-2 after finding the back of the net.
Junior Jose Silva (Northborough, Mass.) finished the contest with seven saves in goal for the Warriors, while goalkeeper Aidan Abolfazli stopped 10 saves in his season premiere against the Navy and Gold.
This Season against the Penmen
- In the second half, Southern New Hampshire scored the only goal of the game in the 62nd minute of play.
- Penmen Brian Francolini was able to find the bottom right side of the net after a beautiful pass from Pierre Omanga.
- The Penmen outshot the Warriors 16-9 and also took five of the game's seven corner kicks.
- Southern New Hampshire collected 16 fouls, while Merrimack tallied 10.
- Sophomore Douglas Searl (Westford, Mass.), Augusto Silva and Julio Leon Garcia tallied two shots for the Warriors.
2013 Northast-10 Conference Men's Soccer Championship Schedule
Tuesday, November 5 – Quarterfinals
Match 1: #8 Saint Rose 0, #1 Southern New Hampshire 5 – Final
Match 2: #5 Le Moyne 0, #4 Adelphi 3 – Final
Match 3: #7 Bentley 0, #2 Merrimack 2 – Final
Match 4: #6 Franklin Pierce 1, #3 Southern Connecticut 2 – Final
Friday, November 8 - Semifinals (at high seeds)
Match 5: #1 Southern New Hampshire 1 #4 Adelphi 0 – Final
Match 6: #2 Merrimack 4 #6 Franklin Pierce 2 – Final
Sunday, November 10 - Championship (at high seed)
Match 7: #1 Southern New Hampshire vs. #2 Merrimack – 1:00 p.m.
The Warriors:
- NE-10 Goalkeeper of the Year Jose Silva currently ranks sixth in Division II with a .875 save percentage, while the team ranks fourth in Division II with a .877 save percentage.
- Merrimack currently sits in eighth in the East Region rankings, while Southern New Hampshire sits third in the rankings.
- Augusto Silva leads Merrimack with four goals and three assists for 11 points, while Searl has notched four goals and an assist for nine points.
- This will be the second year in the row, the Warriors will advance to the NE-10 Championship finals.
The Penmen:
- Coming off a 1-0 win over Adelphi University in the NE-10 Championship semifinals.
- NE-10 Player of the year, Omanga leads the Northeast-10 and ranks among the national leaders in scoring, as he has totaled 17 goals and three assists for 37 points.
- In the most recent NCAA report released Monday, the Penmen rank fifth nationally in team goals against average (0.49) as SNHU has surrendered just eight goals all season and posted nine shutouts, including in each of its last four games.
- Sixth-year head coach Marc Hubbard was named the Northeast-10 Coach of the Year.
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