Merrimack Men’s Soccer Ready for 2011 Season

The men’s soccer program announced its 2011 schedule Thursday, which kicks off with the annual Merrimack Invitational on Sep. 1 and 3.

Led by Robbie Sabadoz of Ottawa, Ontario, and Franklin Pena of Revere, Merrimack will open the season with four straight home matches, taking on Post (Sep. 1), Dominican (Sep. 3), UMass Lowell (Sep. 7) and Wilmington (Sep. 10).

In addition to the normal Northeast-10 schedule, Merrimack visits Molloy on Sep. 20 and hosts Bloomfield on Oct. 5.

“The whole schedule will be very challenging,” said head coach Tony Martone, who is preparing for his 30th season at Merrimack. “Besides the extremely difficult conference schedule, all non-conference games are against teams that have been nationally ranked or have been in the NCAA’s the past two seasons.”

The Warriors will visit Southern New Hampshire on Sep. 14. Last season, Merrimack defeated then #2 Southern NH 1-0 at Warrior Field.

The Warriors will host perennial power Franklin Pierce on October 11 and conclude the home schedule with matches against Le Moyne on October 19 and Bentley on October 22 as part of Homecoming Weekend.

Last season, Merrimack recorded a 9-8-1 record overall, 5-7-1 in conference, finishing eighth overall. However, Merrimack ended the season with a 0-5-1 mark, losing all five on the road.

“After last year’s disappointing finish, the team is very excited, confident and anxious to get started for the upcoming season,” said Martone.

In all, Merrimack will play 11 of its 18 matches at Warrior Field, where the Warriors were 8-0-1 last season.