Nine-Goal Run Leads #4 Men's Lacrosse to 19-7 Victory against Franklin Pierce Wednesday
Links: Box Score // Highlights
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – After falling behind by a goal and trailing at any point in a game for the first time in over a month, the fourth-ranked Merrimack College men's team used a 16-5 scoring run – including nine straight goals at one point in the second half – to stay perfect at home with a 19-7 victory against Franklin Pierce on Wednesday afternoon at Martone-Mejail Field.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 19, Franklin Pierce 7
Records: #4 Merrimack (9-1, 7-1 NE-10) | Franklin Pierce (4-6, 3-5 NE-10)
Location: Martone-Mejail Field | North Andover, Mass.
How It Happened
Facing a quick turnaround after playing just three days ago, Merrimack welcomed Franklin Pierce knowing a win would be its fifth straight victory and also maintain a perfect record at home.
The Warriors set the tone early off goals from juniors Jack Trask (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and John Bassett (Clifton Park, N.Y.), but Franklin Pierce was undeterred, getting on the board with a man-up strike with 5:38 left in the first before scoring twice in a 96-second span to give the Ravens their only lead of the game at 3-2.
Freshman Michael O'Connell (Sudbury, Mass.) and senior Ryan Poirier (Warwick, R.I.) closed out the opening stanza with back-to-back goals for the hosts to grab the lead right back, and that momentum carried over into a low-scoring second period that saw Merrimack outscore the Ravens by a 3-1 margin to carry a 7-4 lead into the break.
The Ravens would open the second-half scoring with a goal at the 13:17 mark of the third period, but that spurred a run of nine straight tallies by the Warriors, as six different players found the back of the net over the last eight minutes of the third quarter and into the first few minutes of the fourth to put the Navy and Gold ahead by an insurmountable 11-goal margin (16-5).
Franklin Pierce would get two late markers, but goals from sophomore Kyle Stenberg (Annandale, N.J.) and senior Trevor Gallagher (Simsbury, Conn.) wrapped things up with the Warriors on top by 12.
Notes and Numbers
- Three days after seeing eight different players score, 10 separate Warriors tickled the twine on Tuesday afternoon, with three of them posting hat tricks
- Junior Max Allen (West Caldwell, N.J.) pushed to within three goals of 100 for his career, as his five-point (4g, 1a afternoon moved him to 97 career tallies
- After him, O'Connell and Trask both finished with three goals, while Bassett added four points (2g, 2a) and three more came from Poirier and sophomore Dean Prouty (Hanover, Mass.), each of whom had a goal and two helpers on the day
- Gallagher matched a career-high with his two goals – both of which were set up by senior Evan Zakow (South Huntington, N.Y.), while junior faceoff specialist Danny Loprete (Watertown, Mass.) was phenomenal on the X with a career-high 23 wins on 30 attempts (76.7) and picked up 15 ground balls, also a personal best
- In net, sophomore Sam Ventresca (Woburn, Mass.) finished with 12 saves while allowing only seven goals before giving way to both classmates Mitch Green (Manchester, N.H.) and James Biegel (Gorham, Maine)
- EMO: Merrimack (1-2) // FPU (1-4)
- SOG: Merrimack – 32 // FPU – 20
- Ground Balls: Merrimack – 52 // FPU – 31
- Clears: Merrimack (15-for-18) // FPU (15-for-19)
Up Next
Merrimack will enjoy an eight-day layoff before traveling to Assumption next Wednesday (April 20) to start a two-game week. First whistle is set for 7 p.m.
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