#1 Men's Lacrosse Wins Seventh Straight at #14 Saint Anselm, 20-6, Earns #3 Seed in NE10 Championship
Links: Box Score
MANCHESTER, N.H. – Thirteen different goal-scorers propelled the top-ranked Merrimack College men's lacrosse team to its seventh straight victory over 14th-ranked Saint Anselm College on Saturday night, as the Warriors rolled to a 20-6 win to earn the Northeast-10 Conference's No. 3 seed for next week's league tournament.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 20, Saint Anselm 6
Records: #1 Merrimack (12-2, 9-2 NE10) | #14 Saint Anselm (8-5, 7-4 NE10)
Location: Grappone Stadium | Manchester, N.H.
2017 NE10 Playoff Picture
Top-six teams qualify for postseason; conference records shown; high seeds host throughout
First-round byes for #1 and #2; #3-6, #4-5 first-round matchups; #1 hosts 4-5 winner; #2 hosts 3-6 winner
- Adelphi (10-1) H2H vs. LC/MC
- Le Moyne (9-2) H2H vs. MC
- Merrimack (9-2) H2H vs. Pace/SNHU
- Pace (9-2)
- Saint Anselm (7-4) H2H vs. SNHU
- SNHU (6-5)
Rapid Recap
- After Saint Anselm opened the scoring just past the 90-second mark of the contest, Merrimack ripped off four straight goals and outscored the hosts by a 5-1 margin through the remainder of the quarter to take a three-goal lead after 15 minutes.
- The second quarter was the most hotly contested quarter of the night, as Saint Anselm chipped the deficit to two (5-3) with a goal only 30 seconds into the period, but the Warriors would outscore the Hawks, 3-1, the rest of the way to open a four-goal lead (8-4) at halftime.
- Merrimack took control of the game with an eight-goal third quarter, allowing the visitors to go ahead by a double-digit margin (16-5).
- The Warriors added four more to their lead in the final stanza to close out their seventh straight victory.
Highlights and Notables
- Winners of seven straight, Merrimack – owners of the nation's second-ranked offense coming into the contest – hit the 20-goal threshold for the fourth time this season on Saturday.
- The 20 goals scored were tied for the second-highest total in a single game this season, trailing only the 28 markers scored in Merrimack's win over AIC on April 15 (28-1).
- Freshman Charlie Bertrand (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) and senior John Bassett (Clifton Park, N.Y.) each had hat tricks for the visitors, as each finished with a game-best four points (3g, 1a).
- Additionally, Bertrand tied his career-high with 12 shot attempts against the Hawks.
- Senior Max Allen (West Caldwell, N.J.) had one of his finest outings of the year with three points (2g, 1a), while sophomore Seamus Ford (Walpole, Mass.) and senior Hunter Schmell (Woodstock, Vt.) also had two-goal outings. Schmell set a new career-high with those two goals, as well.
- Junior Jack Pace (Northport, N.Y.) set a new single-game career-high with two points (1g, 1a) in Saturday's win, as he was one of six multi-point performers for the Navy and Gold.
- Senior Jack Trask (Colorado Springs, Colo.), who had been working back from a nagging preseason injury, made his 2017 debut on Saturday night and posted a goal and an assist for his first points of the season.
- Three goalkeepers saw action on Saturday, highlighted by sophomore Edward Hellier (South Portland, Maine) recording 12 stops – two shy of his career-high – before giving way to juniors James Biegel (Gorham, Maine) and Mitch Green (Manchester, N.H.).
Team Leaders (MC // STA)
- Points: Bassett/Bertrand (4) // Mark Vitello (3)
- Goals: Bassett/Bertrand (3) // Vitello (3)
- Assists: Six players (1) // Three players (1)
- Faceoffs: Blake Boudreau (12-of-20) // Chris McCormack (13-of-20)
- Ground Balls: Boudreau/Brennen Morin (5) // Two players (4)
- Caused Turnovers: Eric Coburn (2) // Five players (1)
- Saves: Hellier (12) // Lucas DeAngelo (9)
Team Comparisons (MC // STA)
- EMO: 1-2 // 0-1
- Shot Attempts/SOG: 56/32 // 34/20
- Ground Balls: 30 // 33
- Clears: 13-16 // 12-20
- Turnovers: 10 // 18
Up Next
Merrimack begins the postseason on Tuesday, May 4, in the NE10 Championship Quarterfinal, which it will host against sixth-seeded Southern New Hampshire beginning at 7 p.m.
--
For continuing coverage of Merrimack College Athletics, visit MerrimackAthletics.com and follow the Warriors on Twitter and on Facebook.
