#2 Men’s Lacrosse Meets #9 Pace Saturday in Pleasantville

Date	Saturday, April 14, 2018 (12 p.m.)
Matchup	#2 Merrimack (9-1, 6-1 NE10) #9 Pace (5-4, 4-3 NE10)
Location	Pace Stadium // Pleasantville, N.Y.
Multimedia	Live Stats // Video
Social	@MerrimackMLAX // Instagram

 
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The No. 2 Merrimack College men's lacrosse team will look to keep rolling as it eyes its sixth straight victory and 10^th overall this season when it heads to ninth-ranked Pace for a Saturday (April 14) afternoon Northeast-10 Conference clash in Pleasantville. Game time from Pace Stadium is set for 12 p.m.

Inside the Series:

• Merrimack holds a 17-7 all-time record against Pace and has won 10 straight games against the Setters.
• Last year, Merrimack handed a then-seventh-ranked-and-unbeaten Pace squad its first loss of the year in convincing fashion, as the Warriors took down the Setters by a 15-9 score at home.
• The last trip to Pace ended with Merrimack winning by nine goals (17-8) back in March of 206.
• The closest game over the last 10 meetings was in 2014, when Merrimack blew an 8-2 lead before winning in overtime, 11-10, on the road.
• The last loss against Pace was an 8-7 setback at home on March 20, 2007.

Last Time Out:

• No. 2 Merrimack ran its win streak to five in a row with another end-to-end victory, as the Warriors swept all three Granite State Northeast-10 Conference opponents with a 14-6 win over Franklin Pierce on Wednesday afternoon at Merrimack Stadium Merrimack spread the wealth in terms of its offense performance yet again with eight different goal-scorers, while senior Blake Boudreau went 14-of-17 (82.4%) on the faceoff X in another dominant showing.  Click here for full recap.

Poll Watch:

• Merrimack enters the week ranked No. 2 in the USILA Coaches' Poll. It was No. 1 during a four-week span and has been no lower than second all year.
• As is usually the case, the Warriors will face plenty of the nation's top programs this year, as six other schools that are on Merrimack's schedule are also ranked in this week's poll.
• The Warriors have already NYIT (ranked eighth when they played), LIU Post (12) and Le Moyne (2); they are yet to face Pace (9), Adelphi (5) and Saint Anselm (20).

'Mack Facts:

• Merrimack (9-1, 6-1 NE10) ranks second in the NE10 in scoring offense (14.40) and third in defense (7.70) and also boasts the ninth-best man-down defense in the country (79.5%) and 13^th-best man-up offense (42.0%).
• Freshman Sean Black (53 points) leads all Warriors on the offensive front with 22 goals and 31 assists. He ranks second in the league in assists and first in overall scoring. His 3.10 assists per game figure ranks second nationally and scoring average (5.30) ranks sixth.
• Sophomore Charlie Bertrand, meanwhile, is the league leader in goals scored (34), ranking third nationally in goals per game (3.78).
• Senior Blake Boudreau has won 158-of-222 on the X (.712) as Merrimack's primary faceoff man, ranking fifth nationally and first in the NE10 in faceoff win percentage. He ranks seventh nationally and first in the NE10 averaging 9.30 ground balls per game.
• Seniors James Bassett, reigning USILA Defensive Player of the Year, and Eric Coburn lead the Warriors defensively with nine and 10 caused turnovers, respectively.
• In net, freshman Peter Brown has started the last eight games and has been solid, posting a 6.27 goals against average (4^th/NE10) and .523 save percentage in that span.
• Merrimack has won the last 21 games it has scored 10 or more goals in; its last loss when posting a double-digit scoring total was in double overtime against Le Moyne (12-11) on March 18, 2017.

Scouting Pace:

• After starting the year 4-1, Pace has lost three of its last four games, including two straight road games, and enters Saturday at 5-4 (4-3 NE10).
• The Setters rank eighth in the league in scoring offense (11.11) and fifth in scoring defense (8.78).
• Bradley Paterson is the Setters' top scorer with 32 points (23g, 9a), while Steven Weindler has gone 82-of-171 on faceoffs (.480) and has a team-high 31 ground balls.
• Daniel Lewis has caused a team-most 12 turnovers to lead the team defensively.
• Robert Beshlian is Pace's go-to man in net with starts in all nine games; he owns a 8.56 GAA and holds a .596 save percentage.

Inside the Matchup:

#2 Merrimack (9-1, 6-1 NE10)	Category	Pace (5-4, 4-3 NE10)
4/7 at SNHU (W, 21-9) 4/11 vs Franklin Pierce (W, 14-6)	Recent Games	4/7 at Le Moyne (L, 11-8) 4/11 at Saint Anselm (L, 12-7)
14.40	Scoring Offense	11.11
6.70	Scoring Defense	8.78
42.0%	Man-Up Offense	28.7%
79.5%	Man-Down Defense	75.7%
144/424 (.340)	Goals/Shot Attempts (Sh. Pct.)	100-355 (.282)
33.50	Ground Balls	33.89
13.00	Turnovers	15.44
6.70	Caused Turnovers	11.89
70.0%	Faceoff Pct.	47.3%
88.7%	Clearing Pct.	84.5%

 
Up Next
Merrimack stays on the road to take on Assumption College next Tuesday night (April 17) at 7 p.m.