BACK TO 'CUSE! #3 Men's Lacrosse Returning to Final Four after 15-13 Win over #5 LIU Post in NCAA Quarters
Links: Box Score // Highlights // Bracket
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – After both teams battled to a 7-7 tie entering the half, a five-goal spurt in a three-minute span at the start of the third quarter ultimately pushed the third-ranked Merrimack College men's lacrosse team back into the semifinal round of the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row, as the Warriors dispatched fifth-ranked LIU Post, 15-13, in the national quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon at Martone-Mejail Field.
The Basics
Score: Le Moyne 8, Merrimack 6
Records: #3 Merrimack (14-2) | #2 Le Moyne (17-0)
Location: Ted Grant Field | Syracuse, N.Y.
2016 Division II Men's Lacrosse NCAA Tournament Schedule
Saturday, May 14
Quarterfinals – North Region
Game 1: #1 Le Moyne def. NYIT, 8-7 (F/OT)
Game 2: #2 Merrimack def. #3 LIU Post, 15-13
Quarterfinals – South Region
Game 3: #1 Limestone def. #4 Mount Olive, 15-6
Game 4: #3 Tampa def. #2 Mercyhurst, 10-9 (F/OT)
Saturday/Sunday, May 21/22
Semifinals – North Region
Game 5: #2 Merrimack at #1 Le Moyne (Saturday, May 21, 12 p.m.)
Game 6: #3 Tampa at #1 Limestone (Sunday, May 22)
Sunday, May 29
National Championship – Lincoln Financial Field/Philadelphia, Pa. (1 p.m.)
North Region champion vs. South Region champion
Click here for full NCAA Tournament bracket!
How It Happened
Hosting an NCAA Tournament game for the first time in program history, Merrimack welcomed LIU Post back to North Andover after opening up the season nearly three months ago with a 12-10 win over the Pioneers back on Feb. 20. The Warriors were also looking for their fourth straight win in the series dating back to the 2014 campaign.
After senior Scott Corcoran (Haverhill, Mass.) opened the scoring for the second straight game at the 12:55 mark, LIU Post responded two minutes later to draw even. Freshman Seamus Ford (Walpole, Mass.) then proceeded to find the back of the net on back-to-back attempts to build a two-goal lead for the hosts, but Matt Bellando did likewise for the Pioneers – the latter strike coming with 17 seconds left – as the game entered the first intermission tied at 3-3.
Goals from freshman Brendan Donnelly (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.) and junior Max Allen (West Caldwell, N.J.) restored the Warriors' two goal edge, but after both sides traded scores, the Pioneers went on a three-goal run in the span of just over a minute to take their only lead of the game, 7-6, late in the half.
Ford, however, recorded his first career hat trick after a faceoff win and feed in transition from junior Danny Loprete (Watertown, Mass.) with 2:19 to play in the half, and that score went unchanged the rest of the second quarter.
The turning point of the match came in the opening moments of the third quarter, as goals from five different Warriors in the span of 3:12 sprang the hosts in front by a game-high five-goal margin (12-7). LIU Post never recovered, but did make things interesting after scoring the game's next three to get back to within two. But Merrimack responded with two more in succession – including a man-up strike from junior Jack Trask (Colorado Springs, Colo.) – before the Pioneers got a late marker with 30 seconds left in the quarter.
The fourth quarter wound up being the game's least offensive in terms of total goals, although the visitors were within two goals for most of the period after scoring at the 8:34 mark and again with just under five minutes lef.t
But the Warriors never let them get closer than that thanks to nine caused turnovers by the defensive corps and an 11-save performance by sophomore goalkeeper Sam Ventresca (Woburn, Mass.), as Merrimack ran out the rest of the clock to assure its second straight trip to the national semifinals.
Notes and Numbers
- Merrimack set a new single-season wins record with its 15th victory of the season, surpassing the previous single-season high of 14 (1999, 2009)
- Ford, who had never recorded more than two goals in a game this season, exploded for a game-high five tallies – leading both squads – to highlight Merrimack's offensive leaders
- Donnelly (2g) and Trask (2g, 2a) were the only other Warriors to finish with multiple goals, while sophomore Blake Boudreau (Amherst, N.H.) and senior Ryan Poirier (Warwick, R.I.) each posted two-point performances
- Bloudreau wound up winning 13-of-22 faceoffs, while Loprete finished 6-for-10 on the X
- In net, Ventresca improved to 15-2 on the year thanks to his 11 stops, while counterpart Adam Winne turned away 16 and fell to 2-1
- EMO: Merrimack (1-3) // LIU (0-1)
- SOG: Merrimack – 31 // LIU – 24
- Ground Balls: Merrimack – 43 // LIU – 34
- Clears: Merrimack (14-for-18) // LIU (16-for-26)
Up Next
Merrimack will meet a familiar foe in next week's NCAA Semifinal matchup, as the Warriors came within an overtime goal of victory last May in the national semifinals in Syracuse. The Dolphins are also the only team to have beaten Merrimack this year, both in the regular season (11-6) and in last Sunday's NE-10 Championship (8-6). Game time for next Saturday (May 21) is set for 12 p.m.
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