North Andover, Ma. The Merrimack College Warriors Men's soccer team scored three first half goals and cruised a 3-0 conference win over the Niagara University Purple Eagles on a warm sunny mid-week afternoon at Martone-Mejail field.
Rapid Recap:
Merrimack: 3, Niagara: 0
Merrimack (3-5-1, 1-2-0), Niagara (4-4-0, 1-2-0)
Merrimack took the lead in the opening third of the match as
Herman Rugland's deep cross found
Adam Abdelaal who headed the ball home for the opening goal.
Abdelaal nearly doubled the lead just a minute later but was denied by a team save on the goal line.
Merrimack would snag insurance in the 35
th minute as
Nicolo Vallocchia curled a shot in from just outside of the box to give the Warriors a 2-0 lead.
The third goal of the half would come in the final three minutes as
Salvatore Zani's initial shot was parried to
Theom Samba who lashed the ball into the opening side to give Merrimack a three goal advantage at the halftime break.
In the second half, with the lead in hand, Merrimack would hold Niagara to three shots, but none on target to kill the game off and capture the win.
Notes and Numbers:
Adam Abdelaal's goal was his third of the season.
Nicolo Vallocchia and
Theom Samba scored their first Warriors' goals.
Salvatore Zani,
Rocco DelGiudice and
Jonathan Kratz all had assists.
UP NEXT: The Warriors head to New York to face Manhattan University on Saturday, October 4
th. Kick off is set for 6 PM.
For continuing coverage of Merrimack College Athletics, visit MerrimackAthletics.com and follow the Warriors on X,
Instagram and Facebook.
