MANCHESTER, N.H. – Senior Kristen Vassalotti (South Easton, Mass.), and sophomores Lauren Alfis (Hanover, Mass.) and Bryanna Hayes (Mansfield, Mass.), each scored a pair of goals, but it was not enough as the Saint Anselm College women's lacrosse team suffered an 18-9 loss to Merrimack College on Saturday afternoon at Grappone Stadium.

The Hawks drop to 1-7 on the season, including 1-5 in the Northeast-10, while the Warriors improve to 8-4, 5-3 NE-10.

After Maria DeStefano scored a pair of goals to give Merrimack a 2-0 lead early on, sophomore Carrie Brophy (Mansfield, Mass.) found the back of the net at the 16:21 mark to slice the deficit in half. Two more goals from DeStefano and Jen Pino made it 4-1 until Alfis scored with 9:20 remaining in the opening half to close it to 4-2.

Two more Merrimack goals opened it up to 6-2, before junior Meghan Smith (Pittsford, N.Y.) tallied a score with 6:04 to go. The Warriors closed the half with two more goals and took an 8-3 advantage into the break.

An Alfis free-position goal at the 25:46 mark of the second half made it 9-4, but Merrimack reeled off four straight goals to open a commanding 13-4 lead. Scores by sophomore Britini Hickman (Farmington, N.H.), Vassalotti and Hayes cut it to 14-7 with 11:10 remaining. Hayes scored again at 5:14 and Vassalotti notched another with 1:49 on the clock, but it was too little and too late as Merrimack came away with the victory.

DeStefano finished with a game-high five goals, while Pino found the back of the net four times.

Senior goalkeeper Katherine O'Hara (Norwell, Mass.) made eight saves, while Inna Hedden stopped nine shots for the Warriors.

Merrimack outshot Saint Anselm, 38-22, including 17-8 in the opening half. The Hawks lost despite controlling 18 of the 29 draw controls and converting half of their free-position chances (4-8).

The Hawks return to action Tuesday, April 12 (4 p.m.) when they head north to take on Saint Michael's College.