Women's Soccer Slips Up vs. New Haven, 2-1
Women's Soccer Slips Up vs. New Haven, 2-1
Links: Box Score
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack College women's soccer team lost 2-1 this afternoon to the University of New Haven, dropping their NE-10 record to 2-3-1.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 1 | New Haven 2
Records: Merrimack (5-3-1, 2-3-1 NE-10) | New Haven (4-6-0, 3-4-0 NE-10)
Location: Kayo Field | West Haven, Conn.
What They Said
Head coach Gabe Mejail: "This is a difficult one to swallow, seeing how close we were in the standings to New Haven. The girls put forth a great effort, we just couldn't get an equalizer in the second-half. All the credit in the world goes to the Chargers' ability to get the lead, and hold on to it.
How It Happened
Merrimack was looking for their first conference victory away from North Andover, but could not comeback after starting the second-half down by one.
New Haven began the scoring in the 22nd minute as Shannon Enright put a shot into the top-right corner of the net, past goalkeeper Meghan Gulbrandsen (Haverhill, Mass.), to take a 1-0 lead.
Merrimack answered quickly, less than three minutes later in fact. Junior Jenna Savi (Dedham, Mass.) took the initial shot, but it was saved by Chargers keeper Natasha Purchia. The rebound, however, came straight to sophomore Bianca Giacalone (Gloucester, Mass.), who put it into the back of the net to tie the game 1-1.
Later in the half, Amber Simms of the Chargers scored her fifth of the season to give New Haven the lead for good. The tally came with less than five minutes remaining before halftime. Simms leads New Haven in goals and points.
Gulbrandsen made four saves in the first-half. She was replaced by freshman Molly Meehan (Fairfield, Conn.), who made two second-half saves.
Inside The Numbers
- Freshman Sarah Boucher (Northbridge, Mass.) led Merrimack with four shots
- Sophomore Alana Vecchiarello (Peabody, Mass.) notched a team-leading two shots on goal
- Giacalone becomes the fourth Warrior this season to tally at least two goals.
- Savi picked up her team-leading fourth assist on the lone Navy and Gold goal. She leads the team in goals (4), assists (4) and points (12).
- Merrimack lost to New Haven despite outshooting the Chargers 19-10, including 8-3 in the second-half.
Up Next
Merrimack returns home on Tuesday night when they face St. Anselm at 7 p.m.
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