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Black & Bertrand Postgame
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – After watching its two-goal, fourth-quarter lead vanish in the span of about 40 seconds, the No. 2 Merrimack College men's lacrosse team answered right back with a game-winning goal from top scorer
Sean Black with less than two minutes to play, and then the defense came through on the other end to close out a thrilling 10-9 victory against rival and sixth-ranked Adelphi University in an entertaining Northeast-10 Conference clash on Saturday at Merrimack Stadium. The win locked up the No. 2 seed for Merrimack in the upcoming NE10 Championship.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 10, Adelphi 9
Records: #2 Merrimack (12-1, 9-1 NE10) | #6 Adelphi (9-3, 8-2 NE10)
Location: Merrimack Stadium | North Andover, Mass.
Attendance: 787
Duration: 1:51
NE10 TOURNAMENT PICTURE
Top-six qualify for tournament; seeds 1-2 receive byes, seeds 3-6 play in first round 5/1; semifinals are 5/4; final is 5/6)
1. Le Moyne (10-0)
H2H vs. MC
2. Merrimack (9-1) Clinched the #2 seed/bye to semifinals (H2H vs. Adelphi)
3. Adelphi (8-2)
4. Saint Anselm (6-3)
5. Saint Rose (6-4)
T6. Assumption (5-4)
T6. Pace (5-5)
H2H vs. STR
Rapid Recap
- The opening quarter saw both sides answer each other's tallies. Rookie Christian Thomas started things off, netting the game's first strike with just two minutes gone by, but Adelphi tied it at the midpoint of the period. Sophomore Charlie Bertrand got his first of the afternoon with exactly three lef tin the frame, but Adelphi made it a 2-2 affair with another answer at the 1:28 mark.
- The Warriors relied on two of their top transition players to take the momentum back early in the second; with Adelphi looking for a go-ahead goal, it was instead senior Hunter Schmell who picked up an errant pass, went coast-to-coast and buried his sixth of the year to give Merrimack the lead, Shortly after, it was senior Eric Coburn finishing off a great feed from graduate student Paul Spinney after the ensuing faceoff to make it a 4-2 Merrimack lead early in the second.
- Each team would trade two goals apiece over the final 10 minutes of the half, with the Navy and Gold getting markers from senior Jack Trask and sophomore Dom Thomas, as the Warriors carried a 6-4 edge into the break.
- The third quarter was the most quiet in terms of offensive chances, as the score stayed a two-goal lead for the hosts heading to the fourth. Christian Thomas gave Merrimack its largest lead of the afternoon (7-4) early, but Adelphi scored the last two of the stanza – including one with only 17 seconds left – to keep the Panthers within arm's reach.
- Bertrand buried his second of the day with the Warriors a man-up early in the fourth quarter, but that was answered by Adelphi. Then, with 6:51 left, it was senior Kyle Stenberg depositing another goal with the Warriors up a man, but the Panthers would rally back from two goals down with strikes at 4:26 and 3:41, respectively, to make it a 9-9 game.
- The Warriors would eventually get the ball back thanks to a great defensive effort to force a turnover, and then it was Bertrand setting up Black with less than two minutes left for the game-winning marker. But the home side would have to hold off Adelphi's final possession of the game, including a frantic final 15 seconds with the Panthers playing a man-up, but junior Ryan Burke intercepted a pass that could have potentially set up an equalizer and ran out the clock to give the Warriors their fifth win in six tries over Adelphi.
Top Performances
- Bertrand and Christian Thomas finished with three points apiece, tying the team lead with two goals and an assist each. Black and Stenberg also were multi-point getters with a goal and assist.
- Dom Thomas, Coburn, Schmell and Trask had Merrimack's remaining goals.
- Senior Blake Boudreau won 10 faceoffs and finished with nine ground balls to lead the Warriors, while Bertrand, Schmell and rookie Carlin Joyal each had two of Merrimack's 10 caused turnovers.
- Freshman Peter Brown finished with seven saves to pick up the win in net.
Notes and Numbers
- The Merrimack defense turned away both of Adelphi's extra-man opportunities while also holding its 11th straight opponent to single-digit goals in Saturday's win.
- The 10 caused turnovers by the Warrior defense were the second-most in a single game this season, one shy of the 11 caused against Saint Rose on March 17.
- Merrimack has now won the last 24 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.
- Bertrand added to his league-leading goal total on the year (43), while Black added to his conference-leading total in overall scoring (64 points) and assists (38).
- Shots: 40-27 (16-21SOG)
- EMO: (MC-ADE): 2-3 // 0-2
- Faceoffs: 10-13 // Ground Balls: 34-19
- Turnovers: 12-16 (10-7 CT) // Clears: 16-17 // 16-20
Up Next
Merrimack closes the regular season on Senior Day next Saturday (April 28) against Saint Michael's beginning at 3:30 p.m.
