North Andover, Mass. – A cross off the foot of redshirt junior midfielder Marcello Palucci (Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep/Florida International) ended up in the back of the net with six minutes left to give the third-seeded Le Moyne College men's soccer team a 2-1 win over second-seeded Merrimack College in the Northeast-10 Conference Championship semifinals on Friday night at Martone-Mejail Field.

The Dolphins, who improve to 14-3-2 on the season, advance to the conference championship game for the fifth time in the program's 21 seasons in the league and for the first time since winning the title in 2009. The Dolphins will take on top-seeded Adelphi University on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. In the regular season meeting between the teams, the Panthers edged the Dolphins, 1-0, on September 17.

Following two unsuccessful shots by the Dolphins over the opening seven and one-half minutes, Le Moyne struck for the game's first goal at the 10:24 mark. Off a free kick from 46 yards out on the right side of the field, sophomore back Sam Daniel (Bonnyrigg, Scotland/Lasswade/University of Mobile) served the ball into the top of the penalty box. After the ball deflected backwards off a Merrimack player's head, First Team All-Conference back Jack Ball (Sunbury, England/Bishop Wand/Bryant & Stratton) headed the ball into the upper right corner of the net from 15 yards out for his second tally of the season.

Merrimack, which was ranked third, one spot ahead of the Dolphins, in this week's NCAA East Region rankings, registered a 4-2 advantage in shots over the remainder of the half, including a pair of shots on goal, but could not tie the score.

Less than 20 minutes into the second half, the Warriors were awarded a penalty kick following a foul in the penalty box by Ball. Oscar Zepeda Cagide stepped up and slipped the kick into the left side of the net.

After only taking one shot over the opening 38 minutes of the second half, the Dolphins scored off what wasn't intended to be a shot. Palucci served a cross from the left sideline and it was deflected inside the near post at the 83:59 mark for his fourth goal of the year.

Merrimack got off one shot the remainder of the game, but it was denied by Northeast-10 Conference Goalkeeper of the Year Ben Beaury (Cohoes, N.Y./LaSalle Institute).

Beaury finished the game with five saves, including three in the second half, to earn his 37th career victory. With the win, he moves into sole possession of second place on the program's all-time wins list. Tyler Packett recorded one save in each half in the loss for the Warriors. Merrimack posted a 13-7 advantage in shots, including a 9-2 mark in the second half, while holding a 6-4 edge in corner kicks.