No. 22 Merrimack's 27th-Consecutive Winning Record Highlights 2010

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass.- The No. 22 Merrimack women’s soccer team posted its 27th winning record in a row. The Warriors owned a 12-5-3 overall record on the year and finished in second place in the Northeast-10 Conference with a record of 11-3-1.

Merrimack reached as high as No. 16 in the NSCAA National Polls this season. The Warriors started the year with a loss and a tie before rattling off six-straight victories. Merrimack’s first win of the 2010 campaign, a 2-1 victory over Adelphi was a milestone win for head coach Gabe Mejail. The victory was Mejail’s 400th of his 27-year career. Mejail is already the all-time winningest coach in NCAA Division II women’s soccer history and he ranks third among all NCAA women’s soccer coaches. He’ll head into the 2011 season with a career total of 411 wins.

Merrimack earned the No. 2 seed in the Northeast-10 Conference playoffs, making their 26th-straight postseason appearance. The Warriors defeated UMass Lowell 5-4 in a shootout after the two teams battled to a 1-1 draw in regulation. Merrimack was bounced out of the Northeast-10 semis by Franklin Pierce, 4-2.

Freshman forward Danielle Dion (North Grosvenordale, Conn.) lead Merrimack with eight goals and three assists, good for 19 points. Jessica Peacock (Hopedale, Mass.) ranked second on the team with 12 points on four goals and four helpers. Jessie DeGraan (Braintree, Mass.) paced the Warriors in assists with six on the year.

Junior goalkeeper Kiley Horne (Scituate, Mass.) made all 20 starts between the posts for Merrimack in 2010. Horne sported a goals-against average of 0.98 and a .785 save percentage.

Peacock was tabbed to the Northeast-10 All-Conference first team this season after anchoring a stingy defense that allowed just 0.91 scores per game. Lindsey deMont (Littleton, Mass.) and Dion were each named to the Northeast-10 All-Conference second team while Horne earned third team honors. DeGraan picked up Northeast-10 Conference All-Tournament accolades to round out the postseason awards.

Merrimack was on the bubble to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament this season but three other NE-10 teams were rewarded berths. No. 1 Saint Rose, Franklin Pierce and American International were all awarded bids to the tournament. The Warriors posted two wins and two losses this season against the three teams participating in the NCAA Tournament.

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