#4 Men's Lacrosse Heads To Franklin Pierce For A Conference Tilt On Wednesday
FULL GAME NOTES (PDF)
THE PARTICULARS:
#4 Merrimack will hit the road for their fifth road game of the young season on Wednesday afternoon as they will take on the Franklin Pierce Ravens at 3 p.m. Merrimack is coming off of a dominating 19-2 victory over Saint Rose on Saturday on the road while Franklin Pierce enters the contest after beating American International by the score of 16-10 in their last game.
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 17 goals and four assists while Greg Melaugh is second on the team with 14 goals and three assists. Mike Perdie has been consistent so far as he has recorded four goals and a team-high eight assists while Jamie Shand has six goals and six assists. Brandon Waiter is leading the Warriors with 17 ground balls and six caused turnovers. Patrick Coskren has has scooped up a team-high 29 ground balls so far this season while winning 45-of-86 faceoffs. Connor Reagan has a strong GAA of 7.50 so far this season.
ABOUT THE COMPETITION:
Franklin Pierce enters with a overall record of 3-3 and conference mark of 2-2. Casey Burnett leads the Ravens offense with 12 goals and six assists while Kevin Dargin has racked up 14 goals and four assists. Defensively Malcolm Sutton leads the Ravens with 12 ground balls and eight forced turnovers while in the faceoff circle Eric Vincens has won 61-of-120 faceoffs while scooping up 17 ground balls.
THE SERIES WITH FRANKLIN PIERCE:
Merrimack has dominated the series with the Ravens over the past five seasons as they hold a 5-0 record in those games. Merrimack downed the Ravens 11-4 last season and have scored an average of 14.6 goals per contest over the five games.
WARRIORS OFFENSE EXPLODES FOR 19 GOALS:
#4 Merrimack finally clicked offensively on Saturday at Saint Rose as they defeated the Golden Knights by the score of 19-2. The 19 goal effort was the most by the Warriors in 2013. Merrimack had six players record at least two goals and four players record at least two assists in the victory. Leading the way offensively was senior Greg Melaugh who recorded a season-high five goals while Paul Jones finished off his impressive game with three goals and two assists. Corey Lunney continued to score as he finished with three goals in the win while the Warriors finished the game going 4-for-8 in their man up opportunities. Patrick Coskren had his best game of the season on Saturday as he finished going 13-for-14 on his faceoff attempts and scooped up a game-high eight ground balls.
MELAUGH GETS BACK ON TRACK WITH FIVE GOAL OUTING:
Reigning NE-10 Player of the Year, Greg Melaugh got back on track on Saturday at Saint Rose as he racked up a season-high five goals on nine shots on goal. Melaugh now ranks second on the team with 14 goals and three assists while scooping up eight ground balls.
COSKREN DOMINATES FACEOFF CIRCLE:
The key to victory for the Warriors has been the faceoff circle and on Saturday Patrick Coskren dominated his Golden Knight counterpart. Coskren finished the game winning 13-of-14 faceoffs for the Warriors while also scooping up a game-high eight ground balls. Two other Warriors also combined to win 6-of-9 faceoffs in the victory.
REAGAN STANDS TALL BETWEEN THE PIPES:
Senior goalkeeper Connor Reagan won the starting job coming into the season and hasnt let up since. Reagan now ranks second in the country with a save percentage of 66.7 percent. Reagan was the key to the Warriors upset victory over #1 Le Moyne on Tuesday as he finished with a career-high 24 saves and he only allowed one goal on Saturday while also making eight saves in three periods of action.
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 12 goals in the last four games including going 4-for-8 in their last outing. For the season, Merrimack is 15-for-34 on their man up chances which is good for 44.1 percent and fourth place in the country. Greg Melaugh leads the Warriors with five man up goals.
MERRIMACK SCORING DEFENSE RANKS 6th IN COUNTRY:
The Merrimack defense has been a strength of the team so far this season as they are allowing 6.4 goals against per game. Merrimack has allowed a average of 2.5 goals per game in their last two contests, both wins, against #1 Le Moyne and Saint Rose. The stingy Merrimack defense ranks 6th in the country as they have allowed 32 goals against on the season.
LUNNEY RANKS THIRD IN CAREER POINTS AT MERRIMACK:
Corey Lunney continues to lead the Warriors with 21 points (17 goals and four assists) on the season. Lunney now ranks third in the country in goals per game (3.4). Lunney now sits just seven points shy of tying Edward DeBruyn for second place on the Warriors all-time points list. Lunney has 191 career points.
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 67-20 which is a winning percentage of 77.0 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.
