Men's Soccer Falls to #8 Franklin Pierce 3-0

Men's Soccer Falls to #8 Franklin Pierce 3-0

NORTH ANDOVER, MA. – The Merrimack men’s soccer team, ranked fourth in the New England region, lost its second straight match Wednesday night, this time at the hands of the top-ranked team in the region and eighth-ranked nationally, Franklin Pierce, 3-0 at Warrior Field.

Ravens forward David Clifton posted a hat trick, his second in as many games. Clifton has seven goals in his last two matches.

The Ravens got on the board in the 13th minutes as Marek Hawrylik found a streaking Clifton who beat Rob Pedra (South Hamilton, MA) to his right for the first goal of the game.

Merrimack had a chance to get even eight minutes later, but a blast from Donnie Aylward (Groveland, MA) went right off the cross bar from 25-yards out.

Clifton made it 2-0 in the 31st minute as he headed a ball from just outside the box into the net.

The Warriors had another prime opportunity midway through the second half, but a one-time shot by Boris Senic (Stoughton, MA) off a pass from Tiago Dalboni (Medford, MA) was stopped by a sprawling James Thorpe.

The Ravens got the insurance they needed in the 69th minute, when Clifton emerged out of a four-man scramble in the box with the ball and had the whole net to put home his third of the night.

The Warriors outshot the Ravens by a 13-6 margin, getting nine of those on net, but could not score against Thorpe.

Merrimack (10-4-2, 5-3-2 NE-10) continues its tough portion of its schedule as they visit UMass Lowell, ranked third nationally and second in the New England region Saturday at 3 p.m. in Lowell, MA.