Field Hockey Clipped, 2-1, At Merrimack In Northeast-10 Opener
Abernethy scores lone Ravens Goal
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Ashley Abernethy scored the lone goal of the game for Franklin
Pierce at Merrimack on Tuesday afternoon.NORTH ANDOVER, Mass.
(September 8, 2009) – Freshman midfielder Jen Otis
scored the game-winning goal 8:50 into the second half on Tuesday
afternoon to lead Merrimack to a 2-1 victory over the Franklin
Pierce University field hockey team in Northeast-10 Conference play
at Warrior Field. Senior forward Ashley Abernethy
(Bellingham, Mass.) scored the lone goal of the game for
Franklin Pierce. The contest was the Northeast-10 opener for both
squads.
With the win, Merrimack improves to 2-3 (1-0 Northeast-10), while
Franklin Pierce falls to 1-3 (0-1 Northeast-10) with the loss.
After the first 20 minutes went scoreless, the teams traded goals
late in the first half. First, with 13:31 to play in the stanza,
Merrimack freshman midfielder Katie Zubkus notched her third goal
of the season off an assist from senior forward Jaclyn Germano.
Franklin Pierce answered with just 1:48 to play in the first half
to knot the game at 1-1 heading into the intermission. Abernethy
tallied her first goal of the season on a feed from junior forward
Ashley Moirano (Vero Beach, Fla.), who has now
posted at least a point in three of the season’s first four
matches. Franklin Pierce held an 11-7 advantage in shots in the
first period.
Merrimack would net the game-winner just under nine minutes into
the second half. Otis took a pass from freshman forward April
Daugherty and scored her second goal of the season to give the
Warriors a 2-1 lead they would not relinquish.
Merrimack picked things up offensively and posted a 17-4 advantage
in shots, as well as a 12-2 edge in penalty corners, in the second
half. For the game, the Warriors held 24-15 and 14-7 advantages in
the two categories, respectively.
Freshman goalkeeper Kerri Bergquist stopped seven of eight shots on
her cage to earn the win (2-3) in net for Merrimack. Sophomore
Brittany Nyzio (Attleboro, Mass.) made 12 saves,
including eight in the second half, against 14 shots, but took the
loss (0-2) between the pipes for Franklin Pierce.
The Ravens return to the field on Saturday, Sept. 12, when they
return home to host Adelphi in a non-conference contest. Game time
is set for 1 p.m. at Sodexo Field in Rindge, N.H.