MANCHESTER, N.H. – The host Hawks outshot their opponents 22-10, but the Saint Anselm College women's soccer team had its Senior Day spoiled by visiting Merrimack College Saturday afternoon by a 3-0 final score from Melucci Field.
STANDOUT PERFORMERS
• Senior Rachel Gillies (Auburn, Mass.) put three shots on-goal on the afternoon, taking seven total for a game-high.
• Junior Cassie Quattropani (East Hartford, Conn.) picked up one save, falling to 5-8-1 overall in goal.
For the Warriors…
• Victoria Carter scored a pair of goals, Megan Gada added another and Jenna Savi and Cori Gillen each added an assist for the Warriors.
• Three different goalkeepers saw action Saturday, with Meghan Gulbrandsen picking up her seventh win of the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Despite several excellent chances to take the early lead, Saint Anselm could not find any space past the stingy Gulbrandsen. Finally, Merrimack's Carter opened the scoring in the 23rd minute, rocketing a shot from the left side off a Jenna Savi assist to take a 1-0 lead into the half.
• The Warriors doubled their lead with a Gada boot into the top right corner off a defender's deflection in the 56th minute.
• Senior Taylor Levy (Norton, Mass.) pelted one off the post in the 73rd minute that would have cut the lead in half, but Carter chipped in her second tally in the waning minutes to pick up a huge road win for the Warriors.
• Much like she has for much of the season, Merrimack goalkeeper Molly Meehan took over in the second stanza and picked up her game-high five saves, holding firm against 14 shots in the second half.
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
• Saint Anselm proved the aggressor on the midday matchup, outshooting Merrimack 22-10 for the game, including a 14-6 advantage in the second half alone, and an 8-4 edge in on-goal shots.
• The Hawks also earned seven corners on the day, holding a 5-0 advantage in the first half.
NOTES
• Saturday was Saint Anselm's Senior Day, honoring the eight-member class including Levy, Gillies, Kristen MacGray (Norton, Mass.), Audrey Schmidt (Milbury, Mass.), Kim Schubert (Norton, Mass.), Kat Leger (Westminster, Mass.), Callie Millet (Lancaster, Mass.) and Maddie Reynolds (Sandwich, Mass.).
• Merrimack maintains its stronghold on the all-time series, improving to 23-11-5.
• The win also almost guarantees the Warriors a berth in the NE-10 Championship tournament.
• Saint Anselm still has plenty of work to do to earn its first berth in the postseason since 2013, currently one point out of the final eighth place spot with two games remaining.
UP NEXT
• Saint Anselm will play its final two games on the road next week, first traveling to crosstown rival Southern New Hampshire University for a Queen City Cup showdown Wednesday, then finish up its season at University of New Haven Saturday night.
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