NORTH ANDOVER, Mass.—The Southern New Hampshire University men's lacrosse team dropped its first Northeast-10 matchup of the season 10-4 to Merrimack on Thursday afternoon.  With the loss, the Penmen fall to 1-3 overall and 0-1 in the NE-10, while the win boosts the Warriors to 3-0 and 1-0 in league play. 

The two teams would play even for most of the first quarter until Paul Jones scored with 49 seconds left in the quarter to give the Warriors the 1-0 advantage.  Merrimack's Matt Marini would tally another goal for the Warriors 3:34 into the second quarter to take the 2-0 lead before Peter Vacca (Billerica, Mass.) and John Cuozzo (Norfolk, Mass.) tallied back-to-back goals to tie the game at two goals apiece. 

Merrimack would then score six-straight goals to take the 8-2 lead.  SNHU would tally two more goals in the third quarter from Greg Reynolds (Scituate, Mass.) and Cuozzo, but Merrimack would answer with two more goals to solidify the 10-4 win. 

Cuozzo led the Penmen in scoring with his two goals.  Marc Novaco (Chelmsford, Mass.) and Keith Merluzzo (Billerica, Mass.) tallied assists on the afternoon. 

Corey Lunney tallied three goals for the Warriors, while Nick Vazquez added two goals and an assist. 

Brendan O'Brien (Hopkinton, Mass.) took the loss in net for the Penmen and recorded 21 saves as the Warriors bested the Penmen in shots-on-goal 31-14.  Connor Reagan earned the win for the Warriors and posted 10 saves. 

Southern New Hampshire returns to action on Saturday, March 26 hosting Saint Michael's College at 4:00 p.m. in Northeast-10 Conference action at Larkin Field.