NORTH ANDOVER, MA – The Merrimack women’s soccer
team, ranked 21st nationally and third in the East region, won its
seventh straight and ninth in ten games, defeating Assumption
College 3-0 Tuesday night at Warrior Field.
The win clinches home-field advantage in the Northeast-10
Quarterfinals for the Warriors, who finished the regular season 7-0
at home. The quarterfinals are scheduled for Sunday, November 2
(time TBA).
Playing up a player after an Assumption player was ejected in the
12th minute, the Warriors struck four minutes later as
Jackie Vickers (Norwell, MA) notched her third of
the year, taking a feed from senior Nikki Abruzzese
(Parsippany, NJ) and firing it over the head of goaltender
Lauren Keating. Just 1:50 later, Gabrielle Gramprey
(Brockton, MA) netted her 13th as she broke behind two
Greyhound defenders and lobbed it over Keating for the early 2-0
lead.
With five and a half minutes remaining in the half, senior
Catie Hall (Westminister, MA) one-timed a
Domohowski pass off a free kick that originated from near the
corner flag for her first of the season.
With two games remaining in the regular season, the Warriors
(11-2-2, 9-2-1 NE-10) are tied for first with Franklin Pierce and
Saint Rose. The Warriors visit the 15th-ranked Ravens on Saturday
at 1 p.m. in a game that could decide the Northeast-10 regular
season title. Merrimack owns the tiebreaker over Saint Rose, by way
of a 5-0 win earlier this season, so the Warriors are in control of
their own destiny if they win their final two remaining regular
season games.
Last week’s Northeast-10 Goalkeeper of the Week
Shannon Rowan (Fair Haven, NJ) stopped six shots
for the shutout, fourth straight and seventh for the season.
Before the game, the Warriors honored their four seniors, Rowan,
Abruzzese, Hall, and Jennifer Conway (Douglas, MA)
as part of Senior Night.