NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Merrimack men's lacrosse coach Mike Sciamanna believes the Warriors are hitting their early-season stride with arguably their toughest match up of the season coming in the form of the Utah Utes at Duane Stadium on Saturday.
"I think it's a great opportunity for us as a program to play a Power Four team at home," Sciamanna said. "It's something that's pretty rare for our teams to be able to host a school like Utah and do it at Duane Stadium, which is exciting. Our guys are excited about the challenge."
The Utes, who advanced to the NCAA Division I Tournament in 2024, are traveling across the country after suffering losses to No. 11 Duke and Denver.
"It's one of the best teams in the country, in my opinion," Sciamanna said. "They're probably a top 20 team even though they're not ranked in the top 20 right now. Unfortunately, they've played two of the best teams in the country."
The Warriors (1-2) enter the contest after beating the Bryant Bulldogs over the weekend. Merrimack received a stellar performance from sophomore goaltender
Jaden Galfano, who recorded 13 saves in his first start of the season.
"His opportunity came and he made the most of it," Sciamanna said. "I thought the defense did a really good job of giving him the shots that we wanted him to see so he could make those saves, and he made a couple where he bailed out the defense, which we need our goalie to do, as well."
Through three games this season, the Warriors have 10 players who have scored at least one goal.
Colin Kruger (five goals, three assists) and
Casey Herod (four goals, four assists) tied for a team-high in points while
Finn Dougherty (five goals) is tied for the team-lead in goals.
The balanced attack has been a key factor in Merrimack trending in the right direction.
"That is one of our strengths offensively," Sciamanna said. "We're not really relying on one guy. We don't have one guy who carries the load for us and everyone else is worried about him. We have nine guys, and more really, that can make plays for us, can play team offense."
Sciamanna acknowledged how scheduling non-conference games like Utah not only provides a jolt of adrenaline for his group, but also valuable experience ahead of the conference slate. Opening the season against UMass-Amherst, another fringe top-20 team in the eyes of Sciamanna, did much of the same.
Â
"They're really going to put a lot of pressure on us so we need to be prepared," Sciamanna said. "We need to be disciplined. And we need to play our best game."
The opening draw from Duane Stadium is scheduled for noon ET.
