#5 Men’s Lacrosse Renews Postseason Rivalry with #3 Le Moyne Wednesday in NE10 Semifinals

Date	Wednesday, May 1, 2019 (3 p.m.)
Matchup	#5 Merrimack (13-2, 10-1 NE10) #3 Le Moyne (13-2, 10-1 NE10)
Location	Ted Grant Field // Syracuse, N.Y.
Multimedia	Live Stats // Video
Social	Twitter // Instagram

 
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The fifth-ranked Merrimack College men's lacrosse program is back in the semifinal round of the league championship for the 15^th straight season and will look to take another step closer to defending its conference crown when it visits No. 3 Le Moyne College in the next leg of the 2019 Northeast-10 Conference Championship on Wednesday (May 1). Game time from Ted Grant Field is set for 3 p.m.

Merrimack in the NE10 Championship

• Merrimack is making its 20^th appearance in the league tournament, second only to Le Moyne's 22 appearances (including this spring), and is 21-17 in the NE10 Championship.
• The Warriors have advanced to the semifinal round of the tournament 20 times – including 15 straight – which again is second only to Le Moyne's 22.
• Merrimack has also advanced to 12 NE10 Finals (behind Le Moyne's 17).
• Merrimack has won the NE10 Tournament three times (2000, 2010, 2018); only Le Moyne (13) has more league titles, while Bentley and Adelphi also have won it three times.
• Merrimack has finished as the tournament's runner-up a league-high nine times.
• Last spring, Merrimack became the first team not named Adelphi or Le Moyne to win the league tournament since Merrimack's previous championship in 2010.
• Since 2000, the only team not named Le Moyne, Merrimack or Adelphi to win the NE10 title was former conference member Bryant in 2008.

Five Things to Know:

• Merrimack rolled to a 14-8 victory over Saint Anselm in the opening round of the league tournament on Saturday at Duane Stadium. The win was the Warriors' 13^th of the season, as well as their seventh at home in as many tries. They finished the year in a three-way tie for first place and earned a share of the conference's regular season crown but were seeded third in the tournament due to the goal differential tiebreaker.
• Recording no fewer than 12 goals in all but one game this season, Merrimack owns the NE10's best scoring offense (and the country's third-best), averaging 16.47 goals per game. They also boast the nation's third-ranked man-up offense that converts at 47.7 percent. The Warriors have also taken care of the ball well, as indicated by their 15.27 turnovers per game (fourth-fewest in the country) and an 81.7-percent clearing percentage.
• Junior Charlie Bertrand continues to back up his status as one of the nation's best overall players with 73 points on the strength of 58 goals and 15 assists in 11 games. He leads the country in points per game (6.64) and goals per game (5.27), while sophomore Sean Black leads the country in assists per game (3.71) and ranks third in scoring average (5.57); he is up to a team-high 78 points on the season (26g, 52a). Sophomore Christian Thomas rounds out the "big three" with 73 points (37g, 36a) and ranks in the top-15 nationally in assists and scoring averages. Altogether, they combine for 234 points – no other team in the country boasts a top-three scoring tandem with as many points.
• Junior goalkeeper Nick Ponte has put together a fantastic season in net, owning the nation's fourth-best save percentage (.594) and eighth-best goals-against average (8.83).
• Merrimack and Le Moyne will resume a hotly contested head-to-head series that has provided plenty of entertainment over the years. While Le Moyne leads the ledger, 28-11, Merrimack most recently emerged victorious in the regular season after storming back from a five-goal fourth-quarter deficit on the way to a 12-11 win. The two sides didn't meet in the playoffs last year, but Merrimack did win the most recent postseason outing, 10-5, on May 13, 2017, in Syracuse. Le Moyne is 13-2 overall and has three players with 40-plus points led by Matt Hutchings (27-24—51). Sam Kury has gone 62.8-percent on the faceoff X (118-of-188), while Zac Prattson's is one of four players with double-digit caused turnovers. Riley Smith has started all 15 games and own a .575 save percentage and 6.72 goals against average.

Inside the Matchup:

#5 Merrimack (13-2, 10-1 NE10)	Category	#3 Le Moyne (13-2, 10-1 NE10)
4/23 at St. Michael's (W, 12-3)	Recent Games	4/23 at SNHU (W, 24-10)
16.47	Scoring Offense	15.60
9.67	Scoring Defense	7.20
47.7%	Man-Up Offense	37.5%
71.7%	Man-Down Defense	72.5%
34.60	Ground Balls	35.87
15.27	Turnovers	14.87
8.73	Caused Turnovers	7.93
50.0%	Faceoff Pct.	59.1%
81.7%	Clearing Pct.	84.3%

 
Up Next
A win would send Merrimack to the title game of the NE10 Championship, which would be hosted by the highest remaining seed on Saturday (May 4), likely at 1 p.m.