Nashua South boys soccer comes back to beat Merrimack in double OT (video)

NASHUA - Jared Barbosa believes that every time his Nashua High School South boys soccer team steps on the field, it shows a little more of what it's capable of doing.

Against Merrimack on Tuesday, the Panthers displayed the ability to grind out a win, and maybe, took another step toward solidifying as a unit.

South controlled large portions of play, but trailed most of the game before tying it with 9:32 left in regulation, and then winning on a penalty kick by Dan Dukeshire with 1:47 left in the second overtime for a 2-1 win over the Tomahawks at Stellos Stadium.

Mauricio Acevedo scored the game-tying goal off an assist from Edib Alispahic to force overtime and set the Panthers (5-4) up for the win.

"It's interesting because each game can show what your team is about," Barbosa said. "This game showed that we can grind results out, that we have grit and hard work, and that players don't get down on themselves. The whole team is still picking it up."

Chris Jimenez made four saves in goal for South and Camilo Jurado and Rony Reyes played well to help the Panthers keep the ball moving throughout the game.

Merrimack (5-3-1), which has gone 0-3-1 in its last four, got its lone goal from Devin Karchmar, as he scored on a penalty kick in the 25th minute to put the Tomahawks up 1-0. That came after South had put a lot of pressure on Merrimack's defense and goalie Ryan Gonzalez (10 saves), and turned the tide momentarily for the Tomahawks.

"Possession changed drastically after that point," Merrimack coach Ryan Farnsworth said. "I think after the goal, the boys finally settled in, started playing to feet and switching fields and doing everything that a team should do. Because of that goal, it gave us more confidence to do that, and it helped. But especially with South's speed and skill, they're going to come back."

The Panthers never let up in the second half, coming up with a couple of near misses while Gonzalez also made some key saves that kept Merrimack in front. On the other end, South was able to keep the Tomahawks from capitalizing any of their chances.

With under 10 minutes to play, Alispahic got the ball in the middle of the field, and instead of firing a shot at the goal, he found Acevedo near the top left of the box. After a Merrimack player tried to stop the pass, Acevedo had just enough space to settle the ball and put it into the back of the net.

Dukeshire finished off the game by putting his penalty kick into the lower right hand corner of the net, just out of reach of a diving Gonzalez.

"There were some times when we made some little mistakes here and there, but we enjoyed the majority of possession and the majority of the opportunities," Barbosa said. "We had plenty of opportunities, and we just couldn't put the ball in the back of the net. I was happy with the overall play."