#5 Men's Lacrosse Looks For Fourth Straight Win At Saint Rose On Saturday
FULL GAME NOTES
THE PARTICULARS:
#5 Merrimack will hit the road for a contest against the Saint Rose Golden Knights on Saturday afternoon after one of the biggest regular season victories in school history on Tuesday, defeating #1 Le Moyne 5-3. Saint Rose will play host to the Warriors in their first ever conference matchup. The Golden Knights are coming off of a 9-8 victory over AIC on Tuesday on their home turf.
ABOUT MERRIMACK:
The highest scoring teammates in the country from last season continue to find the back of the net for the Warriors as Corey Lunney leads the team with 14 goals and four assists while Greg Melaugh is second on the team with nine goals and three assists. Mike Perdie has been consistent so far as he has recorded four goals and a team-high six assists while Jamie Shand has four goals and four assists. Brandon Waiter is leading the Warriors with 16 ground balls and five caused turnovers. Patrick Coskren has has scooped up a team-high 21 ground balls so far this season while winning 32-of-72 faceoffs. Connor Reagan has a strong GAA of 7.73 so far this season.
ABOUT THE COMPETITION:
Saint Rose enters with a record of 2-5 and conference mark of 2-1. The Golden Knights are led offensively by Brett McAuliffe who has 16 goals and six assists while Kevin Fleming ranks second in goals with 10 and points with 16. Jake Files leads the defense as he has forced a team-high 17 turnovers and has scooped up 17 ground balls. Faceoff man John Zullo has been solid winning 45% of his draws.
THE SERIES WITH SAINT ROSE:
Merrimack is 1-0 against the Golden Knights all-time. Saint Rose just became a member of the Northeast-10 Conference this season. As a independant last season, Merrimack downed the Golden Knights by the score of 15-6 in their only meeting.
STINGY DEFENSE SHUTS DOWN #1 DOLPHINS:
#5 Merrimack played tough defense on Tuesday night to pick up their third straight victory over a #1 ranked opponent as they defeated #1 Le Moyne at Martone-Mejail Field by the score of 5-3. Connor Reagan played the best game of his four year career on Tuesday as he finished with 24 saves in his third win of the season. After trailing 2-0 at halftime, the Warriors came out strong in the third outscoring the Dolphins 3-0 and never looking back. Corey Lunney scored two goals for the Warriors while Jamie Shand racked up his second game-winning goal of the year in the fourth. Brandon Waiter led the Warriors defense with four ground balls and one caused turnover while Patrick Coskren held his own in the faceoff circle, winning 5-of-11 draws against the best faceoff man in the country.
LUNNEY LEADS OFFENSIVE CHARGE IN ClOSE VICTORY:
The division II Preseason Player of the Year, Corey Lunney led the Warriors with two goals on Tuesday while Greg Melaugh, Jamie Shand and Brett Axelson each recorded one goal in the victory. Lunney now ranks third in the country in goals per game (4.0). Lunney also ranks fourth in the country in points per contest (5.33) and ranks second in Merrimack history with 144 career goals.
DEFENSE COMES UP BIG AGAINST #1 LE MOYNE:
The Merrimack defense stood tall against #1 Le Moyne as Connor Reagan made a career-high 24 saves and the Warriors forced 13 Dolphins turnovers including six in the fourth period. Brad Duhaime led the Warriors with two caused turnovers while seven other Merrimack players forced one turnover.
BEATING THE NUMBER ONE TEAM IN THE COUNTRY:
The Merrimack Warriors are no stranger to beating the number one ranked team in the country. The Warriors have now won three straight games against Le Moyne as the #1 team in the land over the past three seasons. During the 2011 season, Merrimack defeated #1 Le Moyne in the NE-10 semifinals and in 2010 the Warriors defeated #1 Le Moyne by the score of 12-11 in overtime to clinch their first NE-10 Championship under Mike Morgan.
MAN UP OFFENSE RANKS FOURTH IN THE COUNTRY:
After a poor showing in the season opener, the Merrimack man up offense has played well, scoring eight goals in the last three games. For the season, Merrimack is 11-for-26 on their man up chances which is good for 42.3 percent and fourth place in the country. Greg Melaugh leads the Warriors with four man up goals.
WARRIORS RANK SECOND IN TURNOVERS PER CONTEST:
One of the keys to success on Saturday will be protecting the ball. Merrimack ranks second in the country only turning the ball over 13.3 times per contest while the Golden Knights turn the ball over 22.3 times a game. The turnover battle will be a determining factor of the outcome on Saturday as the team that protects the ball better will come out on top.
FACEOFFS KEY TO SUCCESS FOR WARRIORS:
Another key to the game on Saturday will be the battle inside the faceoff circle for the Warriors. Patrick Coskren enters with a faceoff percentage of 44 % after going 5-for-11 against the best faceoff man in the country on Tuesday. When Coskren is competitive in the faceoff circle, the Warriors win.
HOME WARRIORS:
Merrimack has won seven straight games at Martone-Mejail Field dating back to last year. The Warriors picked up the best home victory over that stretch on Tuesday with the 5-3 win over then #1 Le Moyne. Over the past six seasons the Warriors are among the best in the country at home, owning a 31-4 record. The Warriors have not lost more than two home games in any season since the 2007 campaign when they went 4-3 on their home turf.
MORGAN FIRST COACH TO 50 WINS IN DIVISION II HISTORY:
Mike Morgan's first four seasons on the Warriors sidelines were as successful as any Division II men's lacrosse coach ever. On May 6, 2011 when the Warriors defeated Le Moyne, Morgan became the first coach to ever win 50 games in four seasons. Morgan is one of only six coaches to win 50 games in five seasons. Morgan currently possesses a career coaching record of 66-20 which is a winning percentage of 76.5 percent.
MERRIMACK TO WEBCAST ALL HOME GAMES:
All five Merrimack lacrosse home games will be streamed live online for the upcoming 2013 season. This is the first time the Warriors home games will be streamed. Each game can be purchased online for $8 per game. The webcast will also include play-by-play and color analysis of the games.
