Merrimack advances to NE10 Championship, will host Bentley Sunday

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The No. 18 Merrimack College men’s soccer team defeated Southern Connecticut State University, 3-1, on Friday night at Martone-Mejail Field to advance to the NE10 Championship Finals on Sunday.

Links: Box Score | Highlights | Post Game

The Basics
Score: No. 18 Merrimack – 3, Southern Connecticut – 1 | Final
Records: No. 18 Merrimack (15-2-2) |Southern Connecticut (11-3-4)
Location: Martone-Mejail Field | North Andover, Mass.

2017 NE10 Championship:
Tuesday, October 31^st
Quarterfinals – at Higher Seeds
Match 1: #8 Bentley 2, #1 Adelphi, 1
Match 2: #7 Franklin Pierce 0 at #2 Merrimack 2
Match 3: #6 Saint Rose 1, #3 Southern Connecticut, 3
Match 4: #5 Le Moyne, 0, #4 Southern New Hampshire, 0 (Le Moyne won 4-2 in PK’s)

Friday, November 3^rd
Semifinals – at Higher Seeds
Match 5: #8 Bentley 2, #5 Le Moyne 1 | Final
Match 6: #3 Southern Connecticut 1 at #2 Merrimack 3 | Final

Sunday, November 5^th
Championship Final at Highest Seed
Match 7: #8 Bentley vs. #2 Merrimack (1:00 PM)

How It Happened

• 12′ – Warriors scored the first goal of the game when sophomore Sebastian Toro (East Boston, Mass.) carried the ball up the field and sent a quick pass over to junior Lars Sund (Stavanger, Norway). Sund held the ball for a second before crossing it to senior Mattia Lanzi (Viterbo, Italy) on the left side. Lanzi shot low for a goal in the bottom right corner of the net.
• The first half ended 1-0 with five shots from the Warriors and one from the Owls.
• 47′ –Sund took the ball down the right flank on a breakaway, but his shot from 10 yards out was saved by the Owls keeper.
• 66′ – Sophomore Aasmund Joedahl (Ridabu, Norway) took a shot from 20 yards out and tucked the ball in the top left corner, to extend Merrimack’s lead.
• 71′ – Toro passed the ball to freshman Franklin Liam Born (Amsterdam, Netherlands) out in front of the net, who took the shot and made it 3-0.
• 88′ – Sabri Akter gave the Owls a late goal to break up the shutout.

Inside The Numbers

• Lars Sund picked up his 20^th point with an assist.
• Liam Born scored his first career goal.
• Keeper records: Senior Lucas Rezende (Weymouth, Mass.) (W, 15-2-2,) // Noah Varonier (L, 11-3-4)
• Shots (SOG): MER – 18 (9) // SCSU – 7 (5)
• Corners: MER – 4 // SCSU – 0

Up Next
The Warriors will be hosting Bentley in the NE10 Championship Finals on Sunday, Nov. 5 from Martone-Mejail Field at 1 p.m.

Mike McMahon

Mike McMahon is in his 12th year covering Merrimack College for The Eagle Tribune and is the founder and managing editor of The Mack Report. Mike also serves on staff as a senior writer at College Hockey News. Follow him on Twitter @MikeMcMahonCHN