Men's Soccer Falls to Merrimack, 3-0

Tuesday, September 10

Boston, MA

7 PM

Boston University

0-4-0

Merrimack

2-0-0

Merrimack

Boston University

September 10, 2019 | Men's Soccer

Box Score Box Score Highlights

BOSTON – The Boston University men's soccer team nearly doubled Merrimack in shot attempts but was unable to convert on its chances and ultimately came up short, 3-0, on Tuesday night at Nickerson Field.

Coming off a 2-1 victory at Northeastern, the Warriors (2-0) struck twice in the first half and took advantage of a fortunate bounce in the second with a successful penalty kick to defeat the Terriers (0-4) in the first-ever meeting between the two schools.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Terriers put Merrimack on its heels in the 10th minute with three corner kicks in quick succession.
The Warriors blocked three combined shots from senior Matt McDonnell and sophomore Evan Morrison before freshman Jacopo Ambrosetti sent a header wide.
Two minutes later, BU remained on the attack with two more corners initially created by McDonnell's shot attempt, but again, Merrimack came out unscathed by stopping another McDonnell shot and blocking freshman Griffin Roach's attempt.
Merrimack struck first at 20:08 when Sabastian Toro sent a cross into the box that took multiple bounces past the BU defense and found the foot of Stefano Mer Pesenti for a hard 12-yard shot at the upper left corner.
The Warriors extended the lead at 33:38 after sending a long corner to the other side of the box and finding Filippo Begliardi Ghidini for a quick shot past the defenseless goalkeeper.
Junior Michael Stone made two stellar saves to keep BU within striking distance early in the second half, charging off his line in a 1-and-1 situation and using his outstretched arms to block a shot attempt from Begliardi Ghidini at 56:00.
Stone then two minutes later leaped to swat away a curling 25-yard shot from Marc Mer Torrelas.
BU looked to mount a rally afterwards, but Lucas Rezende saved a shot from sophomore Kari Petursson at 60:20 and from freshman Marc Roura at 63:57.
Petursson tried to pounce on the rebound following Roura's attempt but was just wide.
The Warriors put the game away at 67:02 on a penalty kick after the Terriers were called with a hand ball during a scramble in the box.
Rezende made two more saves in the final seven minutes to seal the shutout.

GAME NOTES

BU finished with a 22-12 advantage in shots and 6-5 edge in corner kicks.
McDonnell tallied six shots after totaling nine through the first three games of the season, while Roura had four, including two on net.
Rezende recorded five saves for Merrimack against Stone's three stops.

NEXT UP: UMASS LOWELL

The Terriers will open a five-game road trip at UMass Lowell on Saturday (Sept. 14) with a 7 p.m. start time.
The River Hawks won the last two meetings with identical 2-0 decisions.