Manchester, N.H. (April 14) -- After closing to within 8-6 after three quarters, the Saint Anselm men's lacrosse team couldn't hold off No. 5 ranked Merrimack, dropping an 11-6 final to the Warriors at Grappone Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.

Merrimack got on the board early and staked to a 3-0 first-quarter lead. Matt Surette (Wakefield, Mass.) and Kevin DeBenedetto (Reading, Mass.) scored twice in 19 seconds though to cut the lead down to 3-2. Merrimack scored the next three goals and looked like they were heading into the halftime break up 6-2 before Surette scored with 0.7 seconds left in the second quarter to make it 6-3.

Surette scored coming out of the halftime break to cut it to 6-4 and the game headed into the final period with a two-goal margin at 8-6. The Warriors held the Hawks scoreless in the final period and tallied three times for the 11-6 final.

Michael Balbuena (Falmouth, Mass.) led all scorers for Merrimack with five goals, while Greg Rogowski (Cohoes, N.Y.) scored a pair and had two assists. Surette had a hat trick for the Hawks to lead the hosts.

Dan Flynn (Wakefield, Mass.) was superb in net for the Hawks, making 15 saves. Cory Spinale (Wakefield, Mass.) was also outstanding in net for the entire game, turning aside 15 shots.

With the loss, Saint Anselm falls to 5-5 overall and 3-3 in league play, while Merrimack is 9-1 overall and 4-1 in Northeast-10 action. Saint Anselm is back in action on Saturday afternoon as the Hawks travel to Franklin Pierce for a 1 p.m. start in Rindge.