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# More than meets the eye to Pinkerton's win over Merrimack
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/more-than-meets-the-eye-to-pinkertons-win-over-merrimack/
- Published: 2011-09-22T22:24:07.000Z
- Updated: 2011-09-22T22:24:07.000Z
- Description: MERRIMACK – On paper, Monday’s boys soccer game between Merrimack High School and Pinkerton Academy looks like anything but a matchup of two of the top teams in Division I. The schedule shows the Astros scored four goals in the first half and won 5-1, but that’s only part of the story.
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division II, Fall Sports, boys soccer, Division I, Merrimack, Pinkerton, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/bc/58/bc5866d0-9fd9-4113-b959-670d6f16471d/content/images/www-nh-highschoolsports-com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/merrsoccer0919-merr10-1.jpg "MerrSoccer0919 Merr10-1")

MERRIMACK – On paper, Monday’s boys soccer game between Merrimack High School and Pinkerton Academy looks like anything but a matchup of two of the top teams in Division I.

The schedule shows the Astros scored four goals in the first half and won 5-1, but that’s only part of the story.

The score says nothing of three scoring chances the Tomahawks had in the first 10 minutes of the game, all of which should have ended in goals, according to Merrimack coach James Goodwin.

There’s also no way of knowing that three of Pinkerton’s first four goals were deflected by Merrimack goalkeepers. The first two were hit into the air by the ’Hawks Nate Cushman, and both just missed going over the crossbar instead of under it.

After Cushman left with an injury, Matt Stevens got a piece of the Astros’ fourth goal, but it too found its way into the back of the net.

“The score is not indicative of how this game was played,” Pinkerton coach Kerry Boles said. “We just happened to get the ball in the net a few more times than they did.

“There was a deflection on every one of them (Pinkerton goals), and if those are tapped over the crossbar, we’re looking at a 2-1 game. They had a couple of breaks in the first half, and it could have been a 2-0 game in the first few minutes. That’s a very dangerous Merrimack team there.”

Never pleased with a loss, Goodwin was happy to see that the ’Hawks continued to fight in the second half, despite trailing by four.

“At that point, to get five goals would be really difficult,” Goodwin said. “That’s not what I was looking for as a coach. To see the boys keep fighting put a smile on my face on an otherwise dismal day. They could have (given up).”

### Hat trick

Pinkerton’s Sean Smith gave the Astros (7-0-1) all the goals they would need in the first half, scoring three times before the break.

The first came in the ninth minute, when Smith sent a shot high at the goal. Cushman leapt for it and got a hand on the ball, but it made it under the cross bar to give Pinkerton a 1-0 lead.

That score came after Merrimack had three chances to get on the board first, but had the first two snuffed out by the Astros’ defense and the ’Hawks were offside on the third.

“We fought hard and in the beginning, the first 10 minutes, we should have been up,” Goodwin said. “We just couldn’t finish our chances, and they were a hundred percent, should have been finished. That didn’t happen and they capitalized.”

Pinkerton’s Alex Patrikis got credit for the second goal, which came in the 22nd minute, but his pass attempt was deflected by a Merrimack player toward the goal. Cushman again went into the air to stop the ball, getting a piece of it, but it still found its way into the goal.

The Merrimack keeper aggravated a previous injury when he landed awkwardly, and was replaced by Stevens. Smith added his second goal six minutes later to make it 3-0, and the ’Hawks answered right back on a goal by Chris Lore a minute later.

But the Astros didn’t let up. Smith scored his third goal in the 33rd minute, and also assisted on a goal by Antonio Villavicencio two minutes into the second half. Will Carter also had two assists for Pinkerton.

“We really felt like we’d be able to get chances,” Boles said. “We thought we’d be able to continue to press them down the sidelines and we took advantage of that. Once they punched one in, we kind of took the wind out of their sails.”

### Good start

Despite the loss, the ’Hawks are off to a good start this season, having won five of their first seven games.

Prior to Monday’s loss, Merrimack had allowed just two goals in its first five games.

“The two goals we conceded, one was a deflection and the other was a PK,” Goodwin said. “Coaches would come after and say we were doing very well. Much better than last year, (Goodwin’s first year).”

Boles knows that his team would be in for another tough match should Pinkerton and Merrimack meet again this season.

“That’s a tricky team,” he said.