Sports

Merrimack Women's Soccer Unveils 2011 Season

The following was submitted by Brad Davis of Merrimack College.

The winningest coach in Division II women’s soccer history, head coach Gabe Mejail announced the 2011 Merrimack women’s soccer schedule on Friday.

The Warriors will play five of their first six games on the road, beginning with the Dowling Kickoff Classic on Sep. 2 and 4. Merrimack hosts New Haven in the home opener on September 11.

In 2010, Merrimack recorded a 12-5-3 record, 11-3-1 in the Northeast-10, finishing second overall in the conference before being surprisingly left out of the NCAA Tournament.

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Mejail returns his leading scorers, sophomore forward Danielle Dion of Grosvenordale, Conn., and senior defender Jessica Peacock of Hopedale for 2011.

“We know we have a great nucleus returning and a very strong incoming class as well,” said Mejail, who earned his 400th career win last year. “Of course, we also know that being excited is not enough, and there’s a lot of work to be done.”

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Merrimack will play just four of its first 13 games at home, before concluding the season with four of five in North Andover, beginning with an October 15 showdown against Saint Rose.

“Our biggest home game of the year is without question against Saint Rose. They are the defending Northeast-10 Champions and finished undefeated in the league last year.”

Mejail’s squad will have a challenging three-game road trip in early October, taking on Franklin Pierce in a rematch of the NE-10 Semis, Le Moyne, who defeated Merrimack 1-0 last year, and UMass Lowell, who the Warriors edged in penalty kicks in the NE-10 Quarters.

“The Northeast-10 is so incredibly challenging that there really is no easy portion of the schedule,” said Mejail. “We start with three out of four conference games on the road, including two very tough games in three days at Adelphi and at home against New Haven, followed with challenging trips to Saint Anselm and AIC. How we do there will have a strong impact on the rest of the season. In reality, we can’t look past anyone and we’ll just focus on each game as we approach it and go from there.”

The Warriors had qualified for the NCAA Tournament in three straight seasons before being left out last season, despite a second-place regular season finish.


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