BOX SCORE Box Score

Despite a valiant second half surge, the University of New Haven women’s soccer team was upended by Merrimack College by the final score of 2-1 on Sunday afternoon at Kayo Field. With the loss, UNH dropped to 1-3, 0-2 in the Northeast-10 Conference, while the visiting Warriors improved to 2-1-1 and 2-0 in the league.

The first half featured a back-and-forth contest, with the Chargers grasping a 12-3 advantage in shots. However, despite controlling much of the possession, two of the Warriors three shots found the back of the net. In the 26th minute, Danielle Dion found space on the right side of the field, dribbled into the penalty area and ripped a shot to the near post for a 1-0 lead. Just two minutes later, Dion collected her second of the day on a high-arcing blast that sailed over the outstretched arms of Kim Taylor (Patchogue, N.Y./Patchogue-Medford), extending Merrimack’s lead to 2-0.

With five minutes left to go in the opening stanza, senior Meabh DeBurca nearly put the home team on the scoreboard. DeBurca blasted a shot inside the penalty area towards goal, but it was deflected wide for a corner kick. After 45 minutes of play, the Warriors carried a 2-0 advantage.

After a break in action, New Haven wasted very little time getting back into the game. Junior Ali Espanol (Branford, Conn./Branford) brought the ball down the left side of the pitch and placed a great ball into the middle of the penalty area. The ball traveled through the box to the back post where a wide open Emily Buckley-Matura (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney / Saint Lawrence) tagged a shot off the crossbar and into the goal. Buckley-Matura’s fourth goal of the season left the Chargers trailing by one with 44 minutes left in the game.

The Chargers continued to pressure Merrimack’s defense with countless attacks and shots. Unfortunately for New Haven, the Warriors held on to their one goal lead for the remainder of the game. Kim Taylor registered two saves for the Chargers, while Kiley Horne stopped eight shots from the Chargers’ offense.

New Haven returns to action on Wednesday, September 15th when they travel to Pleasantville, N.Y. for a conference showdown against Pace University. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m.