#12 Catawba Upsets #4/5 Merrimack 12-11 in OT
NEWTON, NC – The Merrimack men's lacrosse team suffered its first loss of the season as Marty Tuohy scored 33 seconds into overtime as Catawba upset the Warriors 12-11 Monday night.
After Catawba scored three times to take the 11-10 lead, Merrimack regained the ball and controlled possession for over three minutes before Michael Balbuena (Falmouth, MA) finished off the sequence taking a feed from Greg Melaugh (Billerica, MA) to tie the game at 11 with 3:08 to play.
The Warriors got the ball back with 1:59 left, but after a timeout, Melaugh's shot went wide, and the Indians regained the ball in their attacking zone with 58 seconds to play.
But Marty Tuohy's shot went wide as time expired, sending the game to overtime, Merrimack's first since the Northeast-10 Championship in Le Moyne in 2010.
Casey Chinn won the draw to start overtime for the Indians, and that set the stage for Tuohy who took a pass from Tom Gullop and buried it for the game-winner.
Opening their two-game swing through North Carolina, the Warriors came out flat and trailed 5-2 at the start of the second quarter, but Merrimack rallied, scoring five of the next seven goals to pull even at seven.
Terence Barclay (Babylon, NY) scored twice in a 1:38 span, while Brad McAdam (Neshanic Station, NJ) and Melaugh closed the half with goals 33-seconds apart.
The Warriors grabbed a 10-8 lead getting three of the next four goals, including a short-handed tally from McAdam. But the Indians rallied, scoring three times in a 1:54 span to take the 11-10 advantage with 10 minutes left in the fourth.
Corey Lunney's (Little Silver, NJ) three goals and 13 shots weren't enough for Merrimack, who saw Michael Pecchia make 17 saves, including 11 in the first half. Barclay and Melaugh had two goals and an assist, while Connor Reagan (East Lyme, CT) had six saves, five in the third.
The game was marred by 19 penalties, 11 on the Warriors.
Merrimack (3-1, 1-0 NE-10) continues its road trip Wednesday at Pfeiffer at 3 p.m.
