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.