North Andover, Mass. (April 7) -- Saint Anselm couldn't hold off Merrimack as the Warriors, who are receiving votes in the latest USILA Division II National Poll, defeated Saint Anselm by an 11-7 final on Wednesday night in Northeast-10 Conference play.

Saint Anselm took an early 1-0 lead on an unassisted goal by junior Ryan Henry (Norwood, Mass.) with 11:55 left in the first before Mark Webber evened things up at 1-1 just 2:02 later. Freshman Joe Robichaud (Madison, Conn.) put the visitors back in front though with 6:02 remaining in the first quarter as the Hawks held the early 2-1 advantage.

The score stayed that way until the 6:44 mark of the second quarter before the Warriors closed the period on a 3-0 run to take a 4-2 lead heading into the halftime break.

Merrimack made it a 7-2 score with another trio of goals before the Hawks stop the scoring run with a man-up goal by senior attack Matt O'Connell (Charlestown, Mass.). Senior Ryan McDonald (Bow, N.H.) added two third-quarter goals of his own and the Hawks cut the lead to an 8-5 score heading into the fourth.

In the fourth, Saint Anselm cut the lead down to a two-goal margin twice, with the last time coming on a score from senior Jeff Dunkle (Exeter, N.H.) at the 8:07 mark to make it 9-7. The Warriors scored twice more though to put the game out of the reach and thwart the Saint Anselm comeback effort.

Saint Anselm junior netminder Pat Acone (Bow, N.H.) made a career-high 25 saves in the defeat, while Cory Spinale turned aside 13 shots in the victory.

McDonald led the Hawks with two goals, along with one goal and two assists by O'Connell.

With the loss, Saint Anselm falls to 3-4 overall and 1-3 in the Northeast-10, while Merrimack is now 7-1 overall, 5-0 in the league and tied with Le Moyne for first place in the Northeast-10. The Hawks are back in action on Saturday at 1 p.m. as the team travels to Worcester, Mass. to take on Assumption.