#3 Southern N.H. Tops #14 Men's Soccer, 3-0, in NCAA Second Round Saturday
Links: Box Score
MANCHESTER, N.H. – The No. 14 and fourth-seeded Merrimack College men's soccer team saw its season come to a close in the NCAA Tournament Second Round as the Warriors lost to No. 3 and top-seeded Southern New Hampshire, 3-0, on Saturday afternoon from Larkin Field.
The Basics
Score: #3 SNHU 3, #14 Merrimack 0
Records: #14 Merrimack (15-4-2) | #3 SNHU (19-1)
Location: Larkin Field | Manchester, N.H.
NCAA East Region:
Southern New Hampshire and LIU Post host the two second-round matchups on Saturday. The Penmen and Pioneers advance to the East Region Final next week, which will be played on the campus of highest seeded team remaining out of the Atlantic Region.
Thursday, November 12 – First Round
Match 1: #4 Merrimack def. #5 Le Moyne, 2-1
Match 2: #6 Wilmington (DE) def. #3 Adelphi, 4-3 (OT)
Saturday, November 14 – Second Round
#1 Southern New Hampshire def. #4 Merrimack, 3-0
#2 LIU Post def. #6 Wilmington (DE), 6-0
How It Happened
The Penmen began the game quickly, scoring the opening goal in the fourth minute. Northeast-10 Player of the Year Sofiane Tergou took a shot from the far side of the six-yard box, powering a shot past Warriors goalkeeper Lucas Rezende (Weymouth, Mass.) to make it a 1-0 game.
Merrimack's first shot came in the 12th minute, a strike by Oscar Zepeda Cagide (Jalisco, Mexico) that was blocked. The Warriors' best first-half chance came in the 26th minute when senior back Douglas Searl (Westford, Mass.) volleyed a shot off a free kick, but it carried over the crossbar and out of play. Rezende picked up his lone save of the first stanza in the 30th minute as the hosts took a 1-0 advantage into halftime.
After an uneventful first nine minutes of the second half, Sebastian Stezewski's 54th-minute shot was stopped by Rezende, but less than 90 seconds later, Michael Rowley headed a shot home to double the Penmen's lead.
In the 60th minute, the Warriors nearly got momentum back. Merrimack received a penalty kick after the Penmen committed a foul inside box, but Nick Zucco, NE-10 Goalkeeper of the Year, saved the ensuing shot taken by Joseph Briers (Nottingham, England). Zucco got his left hand to the shot by diving to his right, and the ball then deflected off the cross bar but stayed out of the net.
The Warriors attempted four corner kicks over the final 20 minutes, all of which came up empty. On one instance, the delivery took a deflection off a Penmen defender but it was chested away before reaching the near post. In the 82nd minute, Julio Leon Garcia (Caracas, Venezuela) attempted to curl a left-footed shot into the net off a free kick, but missed wide of the post.
The Penmen added a third goal in the 86th minute, as the Warriors were pushing players forward. With the win, the Penmen advance to the East Region Final for the third time in the last four years.
Inside The Numbers
- The Warriors end the season with 15 victories for the second straight season, finishing one win shy of tying the program record for wins in a single season. This season mark the fourth time in program history that the Warriors have won 15 games in a year
- The contest ended with both squads taking nine shots apiece, but all nine of the Penmen's attempts were on goal. Three of Merrimack's nine attempts reach the net of Southern New Hampshire
- Rezende totaled six saves on the afternoon, tied for the second most saves of his career. His counterpart Zucco notched three saves for the clean sheet
- Senior Augusto Silva (Hudson, Mass.) tied for the team high with two shots. He ended his career season with a team-leading 12 goals and 28 points, both of which were career highs
- The Penmen improved to 4-0 all-time over Merrimack in NCAA Tournament play. All four matches have been played in Manchester at Larkin Field
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