#4 Men's Lacrosse Falls in Overtime, 8-7, to #3 Le Moyne in NCAA Semifinals Saturday
Links: Box Score | Highlights
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – After nearly winning the game in the early stages of overtime, the No. 4 Merrimack College men's lacrosse team had its outstanding 2015 campaign come to a close after third-ranked Le Moyne buried the golden goal with 90 seconds left in the period, lifting the Dolphins to the national championship with an 8-7 decision in the semifinal round of the NCAA Division II Tournament.
The Basics
Score: #3 Le Moyne 8, #4 Merrimack 7 (F/OT)
Records: #4 Merrimack (13-3) | #3 Le Moyne (16-2)
Location: Ted Grant Field | Syracuse, N.Y.
How It Happened
Playing for the right to play in next Sunday's national title game, Merrimack and Le Moyne played as evenly matched of a game as possible, with both sides' defenses shining through three quarters before things opened up in the final frame.
After Merrimack grabbed a 4-3 lead heading into the last period, Le Moyne scored three of the next four goals of the game to take a 6-5 advantage with just under 10 minutes to go.
Back-to-back tallies by junior Ryan Poirier (Warwick, R.I.) and sophomore Max Allen (West Caldwell, N.J.), respectively, temporarily put the Navy and Gold back in front by a 7-6 margin with 3:46 to go. But Chris Breiner found the back of the net with 2:06 left, setting the stage for a wild finish.
Merrimack had a chance to go ahead late in regulation, but with the shot clock ticking, it couldn't get one past Le Moyne netminder Alex Krawec (11 saves). That gave possession back to the Dolphins, who would look to end it with fewer than 30 seconds on the clock, but junior Scott Corcoran (Haverhill, Mass.) forced a turnover that snuffed out that threat and send the game to overtime.
With the next goal determining the victor, junior Andrew Walsh (Derry, N.H.) won the biggest face-off of his career to open the sudden-victory period to give the Warriors possession. But Merrimack's only shot of the period – a beautiful high-to-low shot by Allen from about 10-to-12 feet out – was turned away thanks to a brilliant effort by Krawec, giving the ball back to the hosts.
Le Moyne would get the clear, call a timeout, and set up its offense with under two minutes on the clock in the first overtime period. Brian Rogers finally won it with 1:30 left in the period to send the Dolphins to the NCAA Championship, where they will face either Limestone or Lake Erie next Sunday.
The opening period featured stellar defense on both ends, as sophomore Dom Madonna (Liverpool, N.Y.) and Krawec had a few noteworthy stops to keep the score tied at 2-2 at the end of the frame. Sophomore Tucker Schwarz (Tallahassee, Fla.) opened the game with the first tally before Le Moyne struck consecutively, but Allen evened it up late in the period on a great feed from senior Jamie Shand (Massapequa, N.Y.), who assisted on both markers in the quarter.
The defense struggle continued into the second quarter, as Le Moyne tallied the only goal of the quarter at the 11:13 mark after a long offensive sequence to start. Merrimack came up empty on a minute's worth of an extra-man opportunity midway through the period, and then Le Moyne nearly took a two-score lead late in the frame, but the officials took the goal off the board after ruling that a loose-ball push had been called against Merrimack before the ball crossed the line.
After Merrimack squandered two minutes' worth of man advantage – including a 30-second 6-on-4 – the Warriors finally broke through after Schwarz bullied his way from behind the net, shook a defender, spun and scored to tie it at 3-3 early in the third. Then, two minutes later, Poirier capped off a two-minute offensive possession by finding a wide-open Shand, who went upstairs for his first of the game, giving the Warriors a 4-3 lead that would hold through the rest of the period.
Le Moyne quickly got the equalizer at the start of the fourth on Brian Rogers' third of the game, but Poirier went upper-90 and found nothing but net on Merrimack's next possession to give the visitors the lead back (5-4). The Dolphins would get the next two strikes, though, to open up a 6-5 lead midway through the final period.
But the Warriors roared back, first on an unbelievable shot by Poirier that was as close to the crossbar as possible before Allen's go-ahead strike on a bouncing shot with 3:46 to play. Le Moyne, however, netted the equalizer, withheld the Warrior offense in the final two minutes to force overtime, and used Krawec's excellent stop to set up Rogers' winner.
Inside The Numbers
- Merrimack's defense could hardly have played any better; aside from Madonna's nine saves, the Warriors caused six turnovers, including two by Corcoran and four others
- Poirier's three points (2g, 1a) shared the team lead with Shand (1g, 2a), while Rogers' four goals led both sides
- Schwarz and Allen also posted a multi-point game (2g) for the Warriors
- Walsh and sophomore Danny Loprete (Watertown, Mass.) combined to win 8-of-19 face-offs, with Loprete going 4-for-7 and Walsh winning 4-of-12
- Merrimack outshot Le Moyne, 38-34, while the Dolphins led in ground balls, 21-15
- Le Moyne went 2-for-2 with the EMO, while Merrimack came up empty on five man advantages
- Merrimack was a perfect 12-for-12 on the clear and turned the ball over only nine times compared to 13 giveaways by the Dolphins
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