Men's Lacrosse Rallies for 10-6 Victory over Pace
PLEASANTVILLE, NY – Corey Lunney (Little Silver,
NJ) scored seven second-half goals as the Merrimack
men's lacrosse team registered nine of the game's final
12 goals to rally for the 10-6 victory over Pace University Sunday
afternoon.
The Warriors found themselves trailing 3-1 entering the second
half as Thomas Earl netted two second-quarter goals after Merrimack
committed 10 second-quarter turnovers.
But the visitors recovered, scoring five of the next six goals
in the third to take a 6-4 lead behind three from Lunney in a 4:24
span. Pace would respond with two late third-quarter tallies,
including a strike from Kevin Swierc with two seconds left in the
quarter to tie the game at six heading into the fourth.
"Pace came out plauing with a lot of emotion, and their goalie
and defense kept them in it," said head coach Mike Morgan. "We
weren't hitting our shots early on, but we woke up in the second
half and played well down the stretch. We just need to clean up our
mistakes and as we continue our conference schedule."
Lunney then buried his fourth of the game from Michael
Balbuena (Falmouth, MA) at 3:46 of the fourth, putting
Merrimack back in front with what proved to be the game-winner.
Bryan MacPhie (Scarborough, ME) followed with an
unassisted tally, and Lunney scored a pair of goals seven seconds
apart to put the game away.
Lunney continues to lead the country in goals per game with 24
in five games and has 29 points on the season. Balbuena tallied two
assists in the win, while Greg Melaugh (Billerica,
MA) scored his sixth and seventh of the year. Preseason
All-American defender Shane Mahar (Slingerlands,
NY) picked up his first point of the year, assisting on
Melaugh's second goal of the game. MacPhie finished with a
goal and two assists, while faceoff specialist Nick Maggio
(Winchester, MA) tallied two assists and won 14 of 20
draws in the circle.
Corey Spinale (Wakefield, MA) recorded 16
saves, improving to 4-1 on the season. Merrimack outshot the
Setters by a 35-32 margin.
Merrimack (4-1, 2-0 NE-10) hosts Franklin Pierce Tuesday at 7
p.m. at Warrior Field in the first game of a two-game home stand.
