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Highlights
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The No. 15 Merrimack College women's lacrosse team honored its seniors and then sent them home with a victory on Senior Day, as the Warriors held off No. 25 Assumption College in the regular season finale on Saturday at Merrimack Stadium. Merrimack, which set a school record for wins in a season (13), finished as the No. 4 seed in the Northeast-10 Conference standings and will host fifth-seeded New Haven next Wednesday (May 2) at 6 p.m. in the quarterfinal round of the tournament.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 19, Assumption 13
Records: #15 Merrimack (13-4, 10-3 NE10) | #25 Assumption (9-7, 6-7 NE10)
Location: Merrimack Stadium | North Andover, Mass.
Duration: 2:21
Attendance: 545
Rapid Recap
- After honoring its three seniors before the game, Merrimack soared at the start, netting three straight – with two coming from rookie Haley Bartlett – to roar out to a 3-0 lead just past the four-minute mark. Each team traded the next two goals – Assumption first, then Merrimack – to make it a 5-2 affair, but the Greyhounds then tickled the twine three straight times to tie the game at 5-all midway through the opening stanza.
- The Warriors called a timeout to regroup, and then dominated the final 15 minutes of the half, outscoring the Greyhounds by a 6-2 margin to take an 11-7 lead into the midpoint. Bartlett had a hat trick with 13:25 left, while classmate Catherine Mahanna and juniors Amber Feminella and Bridget Schofield had two goals apiece to lead the first-half charge.
- After an early Assumption goal to start the second half, the hosts ripped off three uninterrupted goals to build a six-goal lead (14-8), their largest of the afternoon at that point.
- The Greyhounds went on a run of their own, netting four of the next five to get as close as three (15-12) with just over 14 minutes left.
- The two teams traded goals again to keep it a three-goal affair with 11:32 left, but Merrimack got a huge goal from senior captain Carly McKenna, got another from Bartlett and closed it out with a player-up goal from Feminella to give the Warriors their school-record 13th victory of the year.
Top Performances
- Feminella (4g, 2a) and DaCosta (6a) led the way with six points apiece offensively, while Bartlett finished one shy of her career-best with a five-goal afternoon.
- Schofield also finished with a hat trick, in addition to two tallies apiece from Mahanna and classmate Meghan Dzialo, while junior Olivia Colletti and seniors McKenna and Annette Ruggiero also scored once, with the latter adding an assist.
- Mahanna tied her career-best with six draw controls, while four different Warriors had two caused turnovers each
- Junior Lauren Trepaney had another double-digit save outing with 12 stops.
Notes & Numbers
- Merrimack's 13th win was a single-season school record, as the Warriors improved to 13-4 overall. It' the best season for the team since the 2011 campaign that saw them finish 12-7.
- Merrimack caused double-digit turnovers for the eighth game this season.
- Feminella now has 69 goals on the year, good for first in the NE10. She ranks fifth in overall scoring with 84 points. DaCosta, meanwhile, is second in the conference with 56 assists.
- Shots: 33-31 (23-25 SOG)
- FPG: (MC-ASM): 3-5 // 3-7
- Draw Controls: 18-16 // Ground Balls: 19-23
- Turnovers: 21-20 (13-13 CT) // Clears: 19-21 // 18-22
Up Next
Merrimack will open up postseason play for the first time since 2012 when it hosts New Haven in the quarterfinal round of the 2018 NE10 Championship next Wednesday (May 2). Game time from Merrimack Stadium is 6 p.m.
