Garfield tallies her fifth goal of the season
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. (October 11, 2017) – The Stonehill College women's soccer team was held off by Merrimack College, 3-2, Wednesday night at Martone-Mejail Field in North Andover, Massachusetts.
Stonehill's (5-8-0, 3-5-0 NE10) freshmen Nicole Garfield (Manchester, Connecticut/East Catholic) and Alex Giardina (Middletown, Connecticut/Middletown) recorded the goals in the night cap, while Isabella Collentro (Sandwich, Massachusetts/Sandwich) registered the assist for Giardina's goal. Junior goalkeeper Catherine Klein (Monroe, Connecticut/Masuk) totaled a career-high nine saves.
Merrimack's (5-7-0, 2-7-0 NE10) Sarah Boucher recorded the first and game-winning goal, while Gigi Guenther tallied the second goal. Boucher and Emily Maier notched the assists.
Both teams got off to an active start, as Stonehill tallied five shots to Merrimack's two in the first 12 minutes. After a shot wide by sophomore Nicole Geraghty (Bridgewater, Massachusetts/Bridgewater-Raynham Regional), Garfield took the ball away from the defense and struck the ball from about 25 yards out and sent it to the back left post for a 1-0 advantage at 12:28 in the first half.
Merrimack picked up the equalizer about four minutes later in the 17th minute of the game as Boucher lobbed a pass into the box for Guenther to put it in the back of the net, 1-1, after the Warriors struck the ball three-straight times.
The Warriors continued the momentum with another goal by Guenther four minutes later in the 21st minute. After a corner kick, Merrimack was able to keep possession, as Maier sent a through pass from just outside the box to Guenther, for a wide open shot at 20:25, for a 2-1 lead.
Another four minutes later, it was Stonehill's turn to put an equalizer on the board. Stonehill drew a foul on Merrimack around 30 yards out of the Skyhawks attacking third. Collentro took the free kick up the right sideline and found Giardina at the right corner of the 18-yard box for a header past the goalkeeper, tying the game at two, 2-2, at 24:47. At the end of the first half, Merrimack held the shot advantage, 11-10.
In the span of three minutes, Merrimack was able to get off four shots on goal, including three saved by Klein and one that hit the crossbar. Stonehill had its own strung together moment as Geraghty and Courtney Campo (Quincy, Massachusetts/North Quincy) got off two shots in the 55th minute.
The Warriors found another opening in the 58th minute, as Stonehill was called for off sides and Merrimack got the ball down to their attacking third quickly. Boucher dribbled the ball past a defender and fired it over the keeper's extended hands from about 25 yards away, for a 3-2 lead.
Merrimack once again outshot Stonehill in the second half, 13-7, for an overall combined effort of 24-17.
Stonehill takes on Northeast-10 Conference opponent No. 5 Adelphi Saturday, September 24 with a 6 p.m. game time. Throughout the month of October, the team will be wearing pink during warm-ups in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. They will also be hosting a Play 4 the Cure game on Wednesday, October 25 against Bentley University at 3:00 p.m. to benefit the National Foundation for Cancer Research. Donations are accepted online and at the game.
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