Links: Box Score
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – After the game was tied at the half, the Merrimack College men's lacrosse team outscored UMass Lowell 7-1 in the third quarter, including a 6-0 run to blow past the River Hawks by a 16-10 final Saturday night at Duane Stadium.
After a back-and-forth first half, the Warrior defense clamped down the in the third quarter and
Mason Balch,
Jack Rooney and
Tommy Rooney all found the back of the net twice to help Merrimack build a substantial lead. The River Hawks scored 4:27 into the third, then did not find the back of the net again for 12 minutes of game time.
Brian Bouwman had a career milestone in the fourth, as the freshman notched his first career goal and
Wyatt Fruland notched his first collegiate assist on the play.
Henry Vogt kept notched his third straight win with 12 saves on the evening.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 16, UMass Lowell 10
Records: Merrimack (3-2, 0-0 NEC) | UMass Lowell (0-4, 0-0 AE)
Rapid Recap
- UMass Lowell looked to silence the Duane crowd with a goal just 1:43 into the contest, but Merrimack had the answer.
- The Warriors responded with a 3-0 run over the next eight minutes that was punctuated by a rocket off the stick of Balch for his first goal as a Warrior. Christian Thomas had two assists during the run to kickstart his night.
- A 2-0 run at the end of the first quarter and into the second quarter from the visitors got the game back to level at 3-3.
- Tommy Rooney put the Warriors back up by a goal with 11:02 to play in the second, but the River Hawks bounced back with a 3-0 run of their own to take a 6-4 lead with under five minutes to play in the half.
- Merrimack did not let the River Hawks hold onto the lead into the halftime break thanks to Brian Russell and Thomas. Jack Rooney slipped a pass in-tight to the right of the cage for Russell, who crept in and scored with 2:47 on the clock. Just over a minute later, Thomas made an exception cut to the inside off a restart and soared for the goal to tie the game at the half.
- The teams traded goals in the opening five minutes of the third quarter, then the Warriors took control of the contest.
- With eight and a half to play, Balch got a step on his defender in the far alley, then uncorked a cannon with the left hand to get Merrimack a lead it would not relinquish.
- The run was on after that, as Tommy Rooney scored three minutes later, then Jack Rooney and Tommy scored consecutive goals just under two minutes apart to push the lead to 11-7.
- Sean Black found Thomas with 1:31 to play, then Balch put an exclamation point on the third quarter with his hat trick goal with just 10 seconds on the clock.
- UMass Lowell's early attempt at a comeback in the fourth was thwarted by goals from Jack Rooney and Thomas.
- The River Hawks had one final gasp midway through the quarter with two straight, but Bouwman's first collegiate marker with 2:24 capped the scoring at 16-10.
Notes and Numbers
- Jack Rooney finished with a game-high six points on three goals and as many assists.
- Thomas topped the team with four ground balls.
- Tommy Rooney's four goals were a game-high.
- The defensive unit was strong all evening led by Riley Reed's two caused turnovers. Nicholas Perez-Blanco, Brennan McInnis, Joe Conley and Christian Glover also registered caused turnovers on the day.
- Karl Sutter and Allyn French combined to win 12 faceoffs on the game.
- Andrew Jenet came in relief of Vogt and made a pair of saves in the closing five minutes.
- Shots: 47-43 Merrimack (26-22 SOG Merrimack)
- Faceoffs: 16-12 UMass Lowell // Ground Balls: 32-30 Merrimack
- Turnovers (CT): 17-12 UMass Lowell (6-3 Merrimack) // Clears: Merrimack: 22-23 // UMass Lowell: 8-12
Up Next
The Warriors are off next weekend, but return to the field for their NEC opener Mar. 19 at Bryant. Faceoff is slated for 12:00 pm.
--
For continuing coverage of Merrimack College Athletics, visit MerrimackAthletics.com and follow the Warriors on Twitter,
Instagram and on Facebook.
