Box Score BOX SCORE
When and Where: November 3, 2015 – Manchester, N.H. (Larkin Field)
Score: Merrimack College 2, Southern New Hampshire University 1 (OT)
Records: Merrimack 12-4-3, SNHU 11-5-2
Sophomore Sydney Crema (Litchfield, N.H.) scored in the 33rd minute to stake the fourth-seeded Southern New Hampshire University women's soccer team to a 1-0 lead, but fifth-seeded Merrimack College would force overtime and use a penalty kick in the 93rd minute to sink the Penmen in Tuesday evening's Northeast-10 Championship quarterfinal tilt at Larkin Field.
After an evenly-played 90 minutes of regulation, picturing the match being decided on penalty kicks, following another 20 scoreless minutes, seemed reasonable. No one would have guessed, however, the penalty kick that would determine the outcome would happen in the first overtime period.
With 7:00 on the clock in the first overtime session, Merrimack's Sarah Boucher dribbled the ball into the box where she was taken down from behind by a Southern New Hampshire defender. A penalty kick was called and Jenna Savi sent the ball to the top right corner of the net and past fully outstretched SNHU junior goalkeeper Autumn Scanlon (Waltham, Mass.) to lift the Warriors into the semifinal round.
Scanlon and Merrimack goalkeeper Molly Meehan each made five saves.
The Penmen outshot the Warriors, 17-10, including 10-4 in the opening half, while Merrimack scored on the only shot of overtime. SNHU also held a 10-3 advantage in corner kicks.
Following a back-and-forth first 30 minutes of action, Southern New Hampshire jumped on the board with 12:24 remaining in the opening half after a great individual effort to possess the ball by sophomore Trisha Luis (Lowell, Mass.). Luis was able to control the ball on the right side of the box, get by her defender and deliver a perfect pass across the box to Crema, who easily finished into the open left half of the goalmouth.
Merrimack gained the equalizer just 19 seconds later as a ball played into the midfield from the right was redirected by McKenna Moore over to Cori Gillen, who sent a low shot into the bottom left corner of the net.
The match continued to be played pretty evenly until the Penmen recorded a dangerous chance late in the 68th minute when junior Alexa Poulin (Tewksbury, Mass.) rocketed a shot from just outside of the box over a leaping Meehan and off the crossbar.
SNHU continued to possess in its attacking zone and had another opportunity to snap the deadlock in the 76th minute, but Crema's cross from the left flank to the right post was cleared out by a defender.
Notes:
- SNHU was playing in its first Northeast-10 Championship tournament game since the 2012 season.
-This marks the final home match for seniors Alyssa Balboni (E. Longmeadow, Mass.), Bridget O'Sullivan (So. Grafton, Mass.), Megan Hanna (Chelmsford, Mass.), Morgan Branco (Norton, Mass.) and Gabby Cappello (Andover, Mass.).
For the latest on Southern New Hampshire University athletics, follow the Penmen via social media on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and Instagram. Sign up to receive text message alerts and e-mail newsletters about your favorite Penmen teams here.
