#10 Women's Lacrosse Triumphs in Season-Opener over Saint Anselm, 14-11
NORTH ANDOVER, MA- The #10 Merrimack women's lacrosse team claimed a 14-11 season-opening victory over Saint Anselm Saturday afternoon at Martone-Mejail Field. The Warriors improve to 1-0 on the season and in the Northeast-10 Conference with the win. The Hawks flutter to 1-3 on the year and 0-1 in league action.
Colleen Strachan (Bedford, MA) paced Merrimack offensively with five goals and one assist on the day. Liz Greeley (Norwood, MA) set a new career-high with four goals in the game. Rookie Giulia Palumbo (Sandwich, MA) found the back of the net twice in her first collegiate contest. Jenn Pino (North Andover, MA), Olivia Huie (Norwell, MA) and Tyler Szymanski (Framingham, MA) rounded out the scoring for the Warriors with a goal each.
"I think we showed what we could do in the first half, we stuck to our game plan. The second half exposed some things we need to focus on in the upcoming weeks to keep up this momentum," said fifth-year head coach Corinne Baker. "We are very happy to get a win in the home opener and we will look to continue our strong play Tuesday."
Strachan opened the scoring with a free position goal 3:30 into the game. Greeley netted her first of the game with 23:26 remaining in the opening frame.
Saint Anselm cut the deficit in half as Meghan Smith scored her first of five goals on the afternoon with 22:52 on the clock.
A six-goal outburst gave the hosts a 10-2 advantage at the midway point of the match. Strachan capped off the first-half scoring with a free position goal with 13 ticks left to play.
Merrimack outshot the visitors 20-6 in the first period and was perfect on clear attempts, completing all eight tries in the opening 30 minutes.
Greeley buried her fourth score of the game to kick off the second half and extend the Warriors' lead to nine, 11-2. The Hawks responded with back-to-back tallies just 22 seconds apart to draw to within seven.
Saint Anselm netted the contest's final six goals to close the margin to three scores with 38 seconds on the clock.
Merrimack concluded the game with 29 shots while the Hawks took 24. Strachan led all players with 12 shots in the match.
The Warriors owned a 20-8 edge in ground balls while Saint Anselm held a 16-11 margin in draw controls.
The home team converted seven free position shots on 10 attempts. The Hawks went 4-for-7 from the free position line on the day.
Between the pipes, Inna Hedden (Woodbine, MD) made seven saves to log her first victory of the 2012 campaign. Sam Kiesel (Andover, MA) stopped two shots, playing 12:45 in the cage in her first game as a Warrior. Allee Ramzi registered nine saves in goal for the visiting team.
Merrimack will remain at home as it welcomes Assumption to Martone-Mejail Field for a Northeast-10 Conference battle Tuesday, March 13 at 4 pm.
