Boxscore

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Senior forward Colin Jackson (Hartford, Conn.) scored the golden goal 5:01 into the first overtime period on Saturday night to lead the Southern Connecticut State University men's soccer team to a 2-1 victory over Merrimack in a Northeast-10 Conference contest at Warrior Field. The match marked the conclusion of the regular season for both teams, each of which has qualified for the upcoming conference tournament. The win is the ninth in 12 games for SCSU, which improves to 11-2-4 (9-1-3 NE-10) and is unbeaten in their last 10 matches. Merrimack falls to 10-5-4 (8-4-4 NE-10) with the loss.

Merrimack controlled much of the play in the first half, but neither team was able to find the net in a scoreless opening stanza. The Warriors held a 5-2 shots advantage through the game's first 45 minutes.

Merrimack got on the scoreboard first, just over 20 minutes into the second half. In the 71st minute, Tiago Dalboni danced around the SCSU defense and took a shot which beat senior goalkeeper Brendan Lawless (Orleans, Mass.) to give the Warriors a 1-0 lead. The goal was the 10th of the season for Dalboni.

SCSU would not trail for long, as they evened the score at 1-1 just 2:32 later. Sophomore midfielder Michael Dibartolomeo (Wallingford, Conn.) beat Rob Pedra for his first goal of the season on a free kick from just outside the 18-yard box. The teams would play the remainder of the second half scoreless and remained tied 1-1 after the regulation 90 minutes. Merrimack held a 7-4 shots advantage in the second half and a 12-6 edge through regulation.

The Owls would record the only shot of overtime, which would result in the game-winning goal. In the 96th minute, the Merrimack defense turned the ball over inside the penalty area to Jackson, who did not miss the opportunity to give SCSU a 2-1 victory.

Lawless made four saves in front of the SCSU net to earn the victory. Pedra made one save for Merrimack in defeat.

The Owls return to action on Sunday, October 28 when they host an undetermined opponent in the first round of the 2007 Northeast-10 Conference Championships. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Jess Dow Field in New Haven, Conn.