Dushman's First-Half Volley Propels Men's Soccer to 1-0 Win at Bentley Wednesday
Links: Box Score
WALTHAM, Mass. – The Merrimack College men's soccer team needed just one goal over ninety minutes to defeat the Bentley University Falcons on the road Wednesday in Northeast-10 Conference action, 2-1, to pick up its first clean sheet of league play and second overall in 2016.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 1, Bentley 0
Records: Merrimack (6-1, 3-0 NE-10) | Bentley (0-5, 0-3 NE-10)
Location: Multi-Sport Stadium | Waltham, Mass.
How It Happened
- 1' – Merrimack featured a change in the back to start the afternoon, with junior Michael Dushman (Bedford, Mass.) making his first start at left back and senior Connor O'Brien (Sandwich, Mass.) sliding inside to center back
- 13' – Attemping the second of four corner kicks in the opening half, senior Alexander Alleyne (Swampscott, Mass.) connected with sophomore Lars Sund (Stavanger, Norway) for the Warriors first shot, but it went wide
- 40' – Bentley put its first shot on net with five minutes remaining in the half, but sophomore Tyler Packett (Eastham, Mass.) notched his first save on the headed attempt
- 44' – Winning a free kick following a Falcons' foul, the Warriors capitalized. Senior Connor O'Brien (Sandwich, Mass.) headed the set piece towards the far post, where Dushman had made a run from his left-back position. The converted forward volleyed a shot back towards the near post, placing his first goal of the season into the side netting
- 56' – The first of two team saves in the second half, Sund nearly doubled the Warriors advantage if not for a block made by a Bentley defender
- 70' & 75' – Freshman Aasmund Joedahl (Ridabu, Norway) came on as a reserve and put two shots on net, both of which were stopped by Bentley keeper Liam McCarthy
- 88' – The Falcons' best chance of the afternoon came late in regulation. A cross was delivered through the danger area to the top of the 18-yard box, where Forrest Scarindge struck a shot aimed at the upper-ninety. With Packett off his line, a Warriors defender jumped and flicked the attempt away from danger to preserve the victory
Inside The Numbers
- Dushman became the eighth Warrior this season to find the back of the net. The third-year player now has nine career goals, after scoring eight over his first two years as a striker
- O'Brien picked up his second helper of the year, moving into a tie for first on the squad in assists. Sund and freshman Sebastian Toro (East Boston, Mass.) also have a pair of assists through seven games
- Packett needed just two saves to record his second clean sheet of the season. He lowered his goals against average to 0.57 and increased his save percentage to .824; both totals are third best in the NE-10
- The Navy and Gold now have back-to-back shutouts against the Falcons and have not allowed a goal to Bentley in the last 230:53 of game action dating back to 2014
Up Next
The Warriors head up to Syracuse, N.Y. on Saturday afternoon to face Le Moyne at 1:00 p.m. The Navy and Gold knocked off the Dolphins in last season's NCAA Tournament, 2-1.
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