Women's Soccer Plays Adelphi to Scoreless Draw Saturday Night
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack women's soccer team dominated the second half, but visiting Adelphi kept the home side at bay, as both the Warriors and Panthers played to a scoreless draw in a key Northeast-10 Conference showdown on Saturday night at Martone-Mejail Field.
Unbeaten in their last two matches, the Warriors move to 9-6-1 overall on the season along with a 7-5-1 mark within league play with just two more regular-season games left. Sitting just behind Merrimack in seventh place in the league standings, Adelphi's record changes to 9-4-3 and 6-4-3 inside the NE-10.
Sophomore midfielder Sarah Coakley (Medway, Mass.) and junior Jenna Zechner (Billerica, Mass.) tallied a team-high four shot attempts apiece, but Sam Whitney posted six saves in net for Adelphi to keep the home team at bay. Meanwhile, junior Nicole Curtis (Billerica, Mass.) notched six saves of her own to keep a pesky Adelphi offense off the board.
The Panthers came out firing to start the first half and registered the first five shot attempts of the game, but the Merrimack defense aided Curtis in keeping it scoreless through the opening 10 minutes. The momentum slowly started to shift toward the Warriors' favor before the first half ended with a 9-7 Adelphi advantage in shot attempts.
After the break, the Warriors came out firing and nearly had the go-ahead goal scored on numerous opportunities in the second stanza. At one moment, senior Jamie Alnwick (Groton, Mass.) came up with a loose ball following a ricochet off the post, but booted the potential game-winner over the crossbar to keep it scoreless.
Heading to overtime with an 18-11 edge in shot attempts, the Warriors saw few chances in the 20 minutes of golden goal soccer. In fact, the Panthers held a 5-1 lead in shot attempts through both 10-minute overtimes before both sides settled for the 0-0 decision.
In total, Merrimack owned a 19-16 lead in shot attempts, while both sides combined for 24 fouls. Adelphi also owned a 7-4 advantage in corner kicks.
The game was the penultimate regular-season home match for nine seniors, as Kristin Elliott (Amherst, N.H.), Laura Spang (Wakefield, Mass.), Marissa Gambale (Swampscott, Mass.), Emily Para (Rochester, N.Y.), Alnwick, Kathryn Eagan (Amherst, N.H.), Jenn Pino (North Andover, Mass.), Sarah Wooley (Duxbury, Mass.) and Krista Fazio (Syosset, N.Y.) were all honored before the game in a special Senior Night ceremony.
Next up, Merrimack hosts conference foe Bentley on Wednesday, Oct. 24, in the team's last regular-season home tilt of the season. First kick from Martone-Mejail Field is set for 7 p.m.
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