#3 Men's Lacrosse Storms Back from Early Deficit, Topples Top-Ranked Limestone, 18-13, Sunday
Links: Box Score
GAMBRILLS, Md. – Starting at an early five-goal deficit to start the second quarter, the third-ranked Merrimack College men's lacrosse team stormed all the way back to tie things up prior to halftime and then outscored the nation's last unbeaten team by an 11-6 margin in the final two quarters, as the Warriors toppled top-ranked Limestone College, 18-13, on Sunday afternoon at Arundel High School in Gambrills, Maryland.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 18, Limestone 13
Records: #3 Merrimack (11-2, 8-2 NE10) | #1 Limestone (15-1, 7-0 CC)
Location: Arundel High School | Gambrills, Md.
Rapid Recap
- Limestone raced out of the gate, staking itself an early four-goal lead after outscoring the Warriors by a 5-1 margin in the opening quarter.
- The Saints pushed their lead to as many as five goals at two different occasions in the second quarter, but that was the farthest behind the Warriors fell. Merrimack closed out the half on a 5-0 scoring run, with all of those tallies coming in the final five minutes – including two within an 18-second span in the final minute of the quarter – to make it a brand-new contest (7-7) heading into the break.
- The Warriors nearly squandered that momentum after a pair of costly turnovers led to two Limestone man-down goals, but Merrimack had a response each time to keep the game tied at 10-all early in the frame.
- Junior Jack Pace (Northport, N.Y.) gave the Warriors their first lead of the game with his second marker of the year at the 9:19 mark of the third before senior John Bassett (Clifton Park, N.Y.) broke an 11-11 deadlock by netting one of his game-high four goals with only four seconds left in the quarter, and that would give the Warriors a lead they would never relinquish.
- In the fourth, Merrimack used a stretch of five uninterrupted goals to pull away from the Saints, who coming into the contest averaged 17.07 goals per game as the nation's top offense, as the Warriors out-scored Limestone by a 6-2 margin in the final stanza to close out the victory.
Highlights and Notables
- Merrimack earned its second win in six tries in the all-time series (2-4) and snapped a three-game losing streak against the Saints after winning for the first time since March 10, 2012.
- While Bassett led all players with a career-high-tying four goals, senior Tim Towler (Topsfield, Mass.) had a monster outing with five points (2g, 3a), finishing one point back of his career-high.
- Junior Kyle Stenberg (Annandale, N.J.) and sophomore Seamus Ford (Walpole, Mass.) also had hat tricks, while the former also added an assist for a four-point afternoon.
- Freshman Charlie Bertrand (Baldwinsville, N.Y.), who entered the day as the NE10's leader in points and goals, was kept to just one marker; however, he helped set up three other scores thanks to a career-high three assists to bolster the Merrimack attack.
- In total, Merrimack saw 10 different players find the back of the net at least once, while the defense caused 10 turnovers while Limestone as a team committed 20 compared to only 10 giveaways for the Warriors.
- Senior Brennen Morin (Wilbraham, Mass.) set a new career-high with four caused turnovers to lead the defensive showing.
- Sophomore Edward Hellier (South Portland, Maine) made 11 stops between the posts, three shy of his career-high.
Team Leaders (MC // LC)
- Points: Towler (5) // Colton Watkinson/Charlie Sheehan (3)
- Goals: Bassett (4) // Watkinson (3)
- Assists: Bertrand/Towler (3) // Sheehan (2)
- Faceoffs: Blake Boudreau (13-of-32) // Kevin Reisman (18-of-31)
- Ground Balls: Boudreau (6) // Reisman (15)
- Caused Turnovers: Morin (4) // Two players (1)
- Saves: Hellier (11) // Cole Aikens (11)
Team Comparisons (MC // LC)
- EMO: 4-7 // 1-2
- Shot Attempts/SOG: 51/29 // 38/24
- Ground Balls: 35 // 43
- Clears: 16-22 // 18-20
- Turnovers: 10 // 20
Up Next
Merrimack ends the regular season next Saturday when it heads to Saint Anselm College for a 7 p.m. showdown on April 29.
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