November 1, 2011

Le Moyne men's soccer vs. Merrimack (NE-10) - November 1, 2011

Syracuse, N.Y. – Sophomore midfielder Zachary MacNabb (Clay, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse/UNC Pembroke) scored the game-winning goal in the 83rd minute after assisting on the game-tying goal in the 52nd minute to lead the Le Moyne College men's soccer team to a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over Merrimack in the first round of the Northeast-10 Conference Championships on Tuesday afternoon at the Thomas J. Niland Athletic Complex.

The Warriors, who defeated Le Moyne, 4-2, 13 days ago in North Andover, Massachusetts, got on the board just 6:25 into the contest. Off a clearing attempt by the Dolphins, Franklin Pena drilled a shot out of the air inside the left post from 25 yards out.

Merrimack doubled its lead in the 36th minute following a free kick. Evan Burokas's free kick from 25 yards hit off the crossbar on the right side and bounced down into the goal box, where Olof Lindhe touched the ball into the open net from three yards out.

The Dolphins answered back 21 seconds later off the ensuing kickoff to cut their deficit back to one. Freshman midfielder Casey Murphy (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C. W. Baker) carried the ball to the endline on the right side of the field. He crossed the ball in front of the net, where classmate Cal Filtch (Marcellus, N.Y./Marcellus) headed in his first career goal at the 36:06 mark.

The Warriors had an opportunity to regain a two-goal advantage with 2:02 remaining in the half, but sophomore goalkeeper Matthew Silva (Brampton, Ontario/St. Augustine) pushed the shot wide to keep the Dolphins within 2-1 at the intermission. The Warriors held a 7-1 advantage in shots in the first half, while taking all three of the half's corner kicks.

Following a Merrimack foul along the right sideline, Filtch sent the free kick into the penalty box. After the ball was kicked around in the box, MacNabb sent a pass towards the right post, where freshman midfielder Alexander Lautner (Munich, Germany/Theodolinden Gymnasium) knocked in his fourth goal of the season at the 51:38 mark.

Merrimack had a chance to take the lead back 19 seconds later, but Burokas had his header go over the crossbar. Six and one-half minutes later, the Warriors were awarded a penalty kick after the Dolphins were whistled for a hand ball near the left edge of the penalty box. Nicholas LoCoco sent the penalty kick towards the left post, but Silva jumped off his line and punched the ball away.

In the 62nd minute, Robbie Sabadoz had a one-on-one opportunity with Silva, which Silva knocked away to keep the game tied. Pena took the ball into the penalty box on the left side 3:47 later, but Silva slid at Pena's feet to smother the shot.

Following back-and-forth action over the next 17 minutes, MacNabb gave the Dolphins the lead for the first time in the game. After a Le Moyne pass into the penalty box, a Merrimack defender knocked the ball right to MacNabb, who sent a fluttering shot from 23 yards inside the left post with 7:35 remaining.

The Warriors were unable to get a potential game-tying shot off over the final seven and one-half minutes.

Silva finished the game with six saves between the pipes in registering his 11th win of the season, becoming just the fourth goalkeeper in the program's history to reach that total. Evan Berube turned away two shots in the second half of the setback. Merrimack registered a 17-9 advantage in shots, while taking seven of the contest's nine corner kicks.

Le Moyne (11-7-1), which has advanced to the Northeast-10 semifinals for the fourth straight year, will visit top-seeded Franklin Pierce on Friday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. The Ravens defeated the Dolphins in Syracuse, 2-1, last Saturday and knocked the Dolphins out of the semifinals last year, 1-0, in Rindge.