MOVIN' ON: #4 Men's Lacrosse Upends #2 Adelphi, 10-9, for First-Ever NCAA Tournament Victory
Links: Box Score | Morgan Postgame Comments
GARDEN CITY, N.Y. – Playing on the very same field where its season ended a year ago, the No. 4 Merrimack College men's lacrosse team exacted some revenge and asserted its status as one of the country's best, as the Warriors upset second-ranked and second-seeded Adelphi, 10-9, for the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament victory in the quarterfinal round of the Big Dance on Saturday afternoon at Motamed Field. Merrimack moves on to face top-seeded Le Moyne next Saturday in the NCAA Semifinals with a chance to play in the national title game on the line.
The Basics
Score: #4 Merrimack 10, #2 Adelphi 9
Records: #4 Merrimack (13-2) | #2 Adelphi (15-3)
Location: Motamed Field | Garden City, N.Y.
How It Happened
Facing one another for the second time in the span of a week after Adelphi edged Merrimack in the Northeast-10 Conference Semifinal, the Warriors and Panthers took to the turf for the third time overall this season – and first time in the NCAA Tournament.
And like the previous two games played this season that saw the combined margin of victory stand at +1, Saturday's win-or-go-home affair was as tight as it could possibly be, as Adelphi raced out to a 4-2 lead before Merrimack used a similar scoring run to draw even at 6-6 before halftime.
Perhaps the game-deciding sequence came in the form of Merrimack's hot start to the third quarter, as the Warriors scored three goals in a span of over seven minutes – including back-to-back tallies in a 15-second span – to grab a game-high three-goal lead (9-6).
An Adelphi man-up goal late in the third brought the hosts to within two before the period came to a close, but sophomore Max Allen (West Caldwell, N.J.) scored the biggest goal of his young career with 11:34 to play in the final frame to restore the Warriors' three-goal advantage (10-7).
While they didn't know it at the time, that strike would stand as the game-winner, as Merrimack's offense was kept in check the rest of the way. That left the door open for Adelphi, who made it a two-goal game with 9:26 to go before Salvatore Tuttle got the home side to within one with just under three minutes to go.
Those final three minutes featured plenty of drama, as Merrimack was awarded a 30-second man-up chance but the Warriors couldn't capitalize before turning the ball over. Merrimack's defense answered the bell and forced an Adelphi giveaway to give the Warriors a chance to run out the clock with only a minute left.
Another Merrimack turnover – one of a season-high 25 by the visitors – kept the door wide open for Adelphi, but an errant pass by the Panthers wound up on the stick of sophomore Tucker Schwarz (Tallahassee, Fla.), who picked up the ground ball that nearly clinched it for the Warriors.
But the game was far from over, as one last unforced error gave the ball back to Adelphi, who charged down the field with time running out. Tuttle had one last opportunity with the Panthers' season on the line, but waiting on the other end of his shot was sophomore Dom Madonna (Liverpool, N.Y.), who came up with the biggest save of his career and one of 12 on the day as time expired to send the Warriors on to the NCAA Semifinals.
The opening two quarters were mirror images of one another, as Adelphi staked itself a 4-2 lead through 15 minutes before the Warriors scored 4-of-6 second-quarter goals to make it a 6-6 affair midway through regulation.
After Tuttle opened the scoring a mere 42 seconds into the ballgame, Schwarz and junior Ryan Poirier (Warwick, R.I.) found the back of the net 32 seconds apart to push the Warriors ahead by a 2-1 margin.
But three successive penalties against the visitors would benefit the home side, as Adelphi tallied three consecutive man-up markers to close out the first quarter. Down by two (4-2), Allen got one back on the Warriors' first extra-man opportunity early in the second before the Panthers responded less than a minute later to retake a two-goal cushion.
Merrimack would close out the half by scoring three of the last four goals; first, senior Kyle Guilbert (Walpole, Mass.) buried a behind-the-net feed from classmate Jamie Shand (Massapequa, N.Y.) at the tail-end of an Adelphi penalty, and then Allen bulldozed his way through the defense two minutes later for the equalizer.
With under five left in the first and all even at 5-all, Guilbert restored Merrimack's lead after weaving around two defenders and scoring while nearly falling over, but Adelphi scored late to assure that things would stay level at six apiece after 30 minutes of play.
Merrimack built itself a lead it would never relinquish thanks to a spurt of three uninterrupted tallies to start the third. Junior Tim Towler (Topsfield, Mass.) got on the board 49 seconds into the period before Schwarz exploded for back-to-back markers 15 seconds apart.
Adelphi would get one back while on the man advantage to close out the third, but Allen's game-winner came early in the fourth; from there on out, Madonna and the rest of the defense bent but never broke to propel the Warriors to the next round.
Inside The Numbers
- Schwarz and Allen finished with four points (3g, 1a) each to highlight the offense; four players in total posted multi-point games while Shand's two assists were a team-high
- Defensively, junior Scott Corcoran (Haverhill, Mass.) and sophomore Brennen Morin (Wilbraham, Mass.) were tremendous, as each caused three turnovers while Merrimack totaled 11 disruptions overall
- Madonna improved to 13-1 after his 12-save performance, outdueling Adelphi netminder DJ Mauro, who posted seven stops
- Junior Andrew Walsh (Derry, N.H.) came up big on the X, winning 10-of-22 faceoffs against John English, one of the top faceoff men in the nation
- Adelphi outshot Merrimack, 44-30, and finished 4-for-5 on the man-up offense while the Warriors went just 1-for-7 with the man advantage
- Merrimack was 18-for-21 on clears and finished with 25 turnovers to Adelphi's 19
Up Next
Merrimack will meet third-ranked and top-seeded Le Moyne next Saturday, May 16, in the semifinal round of the NCAA Tournament. The winner will play for the national title the following Sunday (May 23) at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
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