The eighth-seeded American International College men's soccer team will hit the road Wednesday as it takes on top-seeded and 12th-ranked Merrimack in the quarterfinal round of the 2012 Northeast-10 Championship Tournament.
LIVE COVERAGE: Fans unable to attend the match will be able to follow all the action live online through LIVE STATS provided by Merrimack. Updates will also be posted on Twitter @MC_Athletics and @TheNortheast10.
ABOUT AIC: The Yellow Jackets posted an overall record of 5-10-2 in 2012 and secured the eighth and final berth in the NE-10 tournament with a league record of 5-6-2. AIC clinched its first trip to the postseason since 2005 before playing its final regular season game after Saint Anselm tied New Haven, putting the Hawks one point behind the Yellow Jackets, who then lost to then 20th-ranked Southern New Hampshire 4-1 to close the regular season. This is just the fourth conference tournament appearance for the Yellow Jackets, who are in search of their first-ever NE-10 tournament win. AIC was the sixth-seed in 2005 and dropped a 2-0 decision at third-seeded Le Moyne in the conference quarterfinals.
ABOUT MERRIMACK: The Warriors posted a record of 12-2-2 during the regular season and won the Northeast-10 regular season title with a league record of 10-2-1. Merrimack sat in third place heading into the last week of the regular season before earning a pair of wins at home over Saint Michael's and Saint Rose. That, combined with losses from Southern New Hampshire and UMass-Lowell each, allowed the Warriors to claim the regular-season title on the last day of the season. Merrimack is riding an 11-match unbeaten streak heading into postseason play, going 10-0-1 during that stretch. Their last loss was a 2-1 decision at home to SNHU.
LAST TIME THEY MET: Merrimack won the regular season meeting between the two teams on senior back Alejandro Fuchs penalty kick in the 105th minute, giving the Warriors a 1-0 win over the Yellow Jackets in Springfield on September 23. Merriamck outshot AIC 24-9 in the game, which was actually much close than the shot totals would indicate. Sophomore keeper Jose Silva had two stops while earning the win in net for the Warriors, while junior keeper
Jason Ryan had eight stops in taking the loss for the Yellow Jackets.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY: AIC made the Northeast-10 Champioship Tournament for th first time in program history back in 1999, when the sixth-seeded Yellow Jackets lost a 4-3 shootout with third-seeded Merrimack in the conference quarterfinals.
NEXT UP: The winner of tonight's contest will face the winner of the quarterfinal match between fourth-seeded Bentley and fifth-seeded Franklin Pierce Friday at a time to be determined.
THE FIELD: On the other side of the bracket, second-seeded Southern New Hampshire will host seventh-seeded Southern Connecticut and third-seeded UMass Lowell will host sixth-seeded Le Moyne. The winners of those two games will meet in Friday's semifinals at the highest remaining seed.
