Packett Pitches First Shutout as #15 Men's Soccer Defeats Bridgeport, 1-0, Saturday Night
Links: Box Score
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – Sophomore goalkeeper Tyler Packett (Eastham, Mass.) notched his first-ever clean sheet and classmate Lars Sund (Stavanger, Norway) provided the offense as the 15th-ranked Merrimack College men's soccer team bounced back with a 1-0 victory over the University of Bridgeport to conclude tournament play Saturday night.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 1, Bridgeport 0
Records: Merrimack (3-1) | Bridgeport (0-4)
Location: Knights Field | Bridgeport, Conn.
How It Happened
- 1' – After not starting on Thursday, Packett returned as the Merrimack keeper
- 10' – A good reactionary save from Bridgeport goalie Fabio Junior prevented Jaime Cortes Torres (Seville, Spain) for scoring the night's first goal
- 13' – Three minutes later, Junior once again stoned Cortes Torres from in close to keep it a scoreless game
- 23' – Packett countered with his first save of the night, stopping Nikolai Vadseth
- 29' – Senior Connor O'Brien (Sandwich, Mass.) delivered the ball that resulted in Merrimack's first goal, connecting with Sund. The center midfielder took the through ball and tapped it into the net to make it 1-0 Warriors
- 41' – Bridgeport's Klyde Jacques broke in behind the Warriors defense, but Packett came off his line to cut off the angle, and Jacques hit a shot that went wide of the near post
- 52' – Packett made his second save of the night and first of the second half to keep Merrimack in front
- 64' – The Warriors narrowly missed on consecutive changes. Senior Alexander Alleyne (Swampscott, Mass.) sent in a shot that was pushed over the bar, and on the ensuing corner kick, redshirt-junior Josue Ruiz Maya (Madero, Mexico) struck a header that went over the bar
- 83' – A flurry of action started with a Juan Meza (Cali, Colombia) shot saved by Junior, and a pair of blocked shots from Cortes Torres and freshman Sebastian Toro (East Boston, Mass.), with Junior out of position following the shot from Meza
- 84' – Packett made his fourth and final save of the night to preserve the victory
Inside The Numbers
- Packett now has nine total saves, all of which have come during his two starts. The second-year player lowered his goals-against-average to 0.45 and now has a .900 save percentage on the season
- Sund netted his season's first goal, bringing his career total to three. O'Brien, who set up the night's lone tally, picked up his first point and assist of the year
- Merrimack's center backs, senior Joseph Briers (Nottingham, England) and Ruiz Maya, combined for six of the Warriors' 18 shots
- Shots: MC – 18 // BPT 10
- SOG: MC – 6 // BPT 4
Up Next
The Navy and Gold open Northeast-10 Conference on Tuesday evening when they travel to American International College for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
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