MANCHESTER, N.H. – The #14-ranked Saint Anselm College men's lacrosse team suffered a 20-6 setback to the top team in the nation, #1 Merrimack College, on Saturday night in Northeast-10 Conference action at Grappone Stadium in Manchester, N.H.
Box Score
The Hawks (8-5, 7-4 NE10) earned their way into the NE10 postseason with a win last weekend, and have earned the #5-seed in the upcoming NE10 Tournament. They will travel to #4-seed Pace University for a 7 p.m. matchup on Tuesday night in Pleasantville, N.Y.
Merrimack (12-2, 9-2 NE10) has earned the #3-seed in the tournament and will host #6-seed Southern New Hampshire University on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. as well.
In a pregame ceremony, the men's lacrosse program honored their eight seniors in Brennan Quackenbush, James Olsen, Alex Pacitti, Matt Johnson, Chris McCormack, Dylan Ryan, Mark Vitello and student-assistant coach Colin Swanson for their contributions to Saint Anselm College and its athletic department.
Vitello led the Saint Anselm attack with three goals on the night, while James Olsen added a goal and an assist. Ryan Hesseltine and Xavier Quinn added the other goals for the Hawks, while Alex Pacitti and Patrick Sweeney each added assists.
Defensively, Drew Bourdeau and Alex Pacitti registered four groundballs apiece, with Bourdeau, Sweeney, Olsen, Thomas Powell and Chris Tully each causing one turnover. Lucas DeAngelo suffered the setback, making nine saves while facing 26 shots in the game.
Merrimack had 15 different players register at least one point, led by three goals and an assist apiece from John Bassett and Charlie Bertrand. Max Allen added two goals and an assist, while Hunter Schmell and Seamus Ford had two goals apiece.
Edward Hellier improved to 11-2 overall while making 12 saves in the victory.
Vitello opened the scoring in the game off a feed from Pacitti to give the Hawks a 1-0 advantage with 13:24 to play in the opening quarter, but the Warriors answered with four-straight goals to take a 4-1 lead nearly six minutes later. Olsen ended the run with a tally to make it 4-2, but Bertrand scored with 3:07 remaining to stretch the Merrimack lead to 5-2.
Vitello scored again to begin the second quarter and trim the deficit to 5-3 before Bassett and Ford scored for Merrimack to push the lead back to 7-3. Vitello and Bassett traded scores down the stretch as the Warriors took an 8-4 advantage into halftime.
The third quarter was all Merrimack as they outscored the Hawks 8-1 in the frame to take a 16-5 lead. Xavier Quinn scored the goal for the Hawks off a feed from Patrick Sweeney.
Hesseltine opened the fourth quarter with a goal on an assist from Olsen, but the Warriors would score the final four goals of the game to pull away for the 20-6 win.
Merrimack held a 56-34 edge in shots in the game, while the Hawks grabbed 33 groundballs to 30 for the Warriors. Saint Anselm committed 18 turnovers to just 10 for the visitors, with the Hawks going 12-for-20 on clears compared to a 13-for-16 showing from the Warriors. Face-offs were fairly even with Merrimack winning 17-of-30 draws on the night.
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