| Date |
Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018 (2 p.m.) |
| Matchup |
#1 Merrimack (15-4, 9-2 NE10) (2017)
#8 NYIT (1-0, 0-0 ECC) |
| Location |
President's Stadium
Old Westbury, N.Y. |
| Multimedia |
Live Stats // Video |
| Social |
@MerrimackMLAX // Instagram |
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – With roughly nine months having passed since playing in the 2017 national championship game at Gillette Stadium, the Merrimack College men's lacrosse team returns to the turf to commence the 2018 season Sunday, as the top-ranked Warriors visit eighth-ranked NYIT in a top-10 matchup of two of the North Region's top programs.
Inside the Series:
- Merrimack is 2-5 all-time against NYIT, who it will be facing for the first time since the 2011 season.
- The last meeting was an 11-8 Merrimack victory in North Andover in the season opener of the 2011 season.
- The last time the Warriors visited NYIT, the Bears came out on top in a 16-4 Merrimack setback.
- All-time, Merrimack is winless (0-3) in its three prior trips to President's Stadium.
Last Look at 2017:
- The 2017 season will go down as arguably the most successful in program history for Merrimack, which tied the school record for wins (15), had six All-Americans by season's end, and – most importantly – enjoyed a magical postseason run that carried the team to its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Championship Final.
- Merrimack marched through the regular season with only two losses on the way to punching its third straight ticket into the NCAA Tournament and fourth overall in program history. In the tournament, the Warriors easily dispatched two familiar foes that had handed them their only losses in the regular season: Le Moyne and Adelphi. Those wins would push Merrimack to the national title game for the first time ever, where it would meet a Limestone squad that it had actually beaten during the regular season.
- In that riveting national championship game, Merrimack built a three-goal lead in the second quarter and still led by two early in the second half before a big third quarter by Limestone ultimately gave the Saints the national title.
- Individually, it was another remarkable year with six All-Americans, nine all-region picks and nine all-conference selections. Tim Towler '17 was named the NE10 Player of the Year and USILA Co-Midfielder of the Year; rising senior James Bassett was the USILA and NE10 Defensive Player of the Year, and freshman sensation Charlie Bertrand was the NE10 Rookie of the Year. Finally, head coach Mike Morgan garnered USILA Coach of the Year honors.
Preseason Accolades Aplenty:
Poll Watch:
- Merrimack, which earned its first-ever No. 1 national ranking in the USILA/Nike 2017 Division II Coaches' Poll last April, started the 2018 season in the No. 2 spot before rising to No. 1 in the current iteration of the nation's top-20 programs.
- As is usually the case, the Warriors will face plenty of the nation's top programs this year, as five other schools that are on Merrimack's schedule are also ranked in this week's poll.
- The Warriors will match up with eighth-ranked NYIT on Sunday, and are yet to face Le Moyne (2), Adephi (4), Pace (6), and Saint Anselm (18).
'Mack Facts:
- Merrimack returns all but four starters from last year's national runner-up, 15-win campaign.
- The Warrior offense, which ranked third nationally last year averaging more than 15 goals per game, returns one of the nation's top scorers in sophomore and preseason All-American Charlie Bertrand, who had 75 points in his rookie campaign (52g, 23a). Additionally, Merrimack brings back six of its eight top scorers from last year, including three players who had 40 points or more, such as preseason All-American Kyle Stenberg (52 points) and preseason all-region selection John Bassett (28).
- On the back end, reigning USILA Defensive Player of the Year and preseason All-American James Bassett headlines a group that lost just one starter and yielded just under eight goals per game, ranking 11th nationally in scoring defense. He will be complimented by fellow preseason All-American Hunter Schmell, one of the country's top two-way midfielders, and long-stick midfielder Eric Coburn, a preseason all-region pick.
- Rising senior Blake Boudreau, another preseason All-American, was among the nation's top faceoff men last year and won 61.8 percent of his draws (236-382); he also led the team with 114 ground balls.
- Sophomore Edward Hellier was the go-to man in net last year and finished with an 8.09 goals-against average and .546 save percentage.
- Merrimack won every single game that it scored 10 or more goals in last year.
Scouting NYIT:
- NYIT started the year with an impressive regional win against Mercyhurst, dropping the Lakers by a 16-9 score. NYIT led by seven at the half and maintained that margin the rest of the way.
- The Bears are coming off a 14-3 season in 2017 that saw them capture the ECC title in overtime against Mercy.
- LeRoy Halftown and Andrew Zito lead NYIT with six points; the former has four goals and two helpers while the latter netted five goals last week.
- Shlomo Amar won 18-of-26 faceoffs last week against NYIT (.692) and is the top option on the X for the Bears.
- Jake Mellen started in net for NYIT last week and stopped 11 shots on 20 attempts (.555) and yielded nine goals.
Inside the Matchup:
| #1 Merrimack (15-4, 9-2 NE10) (2017) |
Category |
#8 NYIT (1-0, 0-0 ECC) |
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Recent Games |
2/10 vs. Mercyhurst (W, 16-9) |
| 15.26 (3rd/NCAA) |
Scoring Offense |
16.00 |
| 7.79 (11th) |
Scoring Defense |
9.00 |
| 45.0% (4th) |
Man-Up Offense |
66.7% |
| 76.4% (16th) |
Man-Down Defense |
33.3% |
| 290/868 (.334) |
Goals/Shot Attempts (Sh. Pct.) |
16-53 (.302) |
| 33.89 |
Ground Balls/Game |
37.0 |
| 15.58 |
Turnovers/Game |
16.0 |
| 7.42 |
Caused Turnovers/Game |
9.0 |
| 59.8% (11th) |
Faceoff Pct. |
67.9% |
| 83.8% |
Clearing Pct. |
83.3% |
Up Next
Merrimack will enjoy a 13-day respite before hosting Lake Erie in the 2018 home opener on Saturday, March 3, at 1 p.m. The game will be historic in that it will mark the Warriors' first-ever game at the brand-new Merrimack Stadium, which opened last fall.
