MANCHESTER, N.H.—Keith Merluzzo (Billerica, Mass.) tallied two goals and an assist to lead the visiting Penmen of Southern New Hampshire University to a 7-6 men's lacrosse victory against Saint Anselm College in Northeast-10 Conference action on Wednesday afternoon at Melucci Field.  With the win, the Penmen improve to 2-4 overall and 1-2 in NE-10 action, while the loss drops the Hawks to 0-5 and 0-2 in the league. 

With the win, the Penmen defeat their cross-town rivals for the first time since 2006. 

The Penmen would take the early 1-0 lead on Merluzzo's first goal of the game, but the Hawks would answer with three-straight goals to take the 3-1 advantage.  SNHU would respond with back-to-back goals by Merluzzo and Marc Novaco (Chelmsford, Mass.) to even the score at 3-3 at the end of the first quarter.  

Scoring would slow in the second quarter, as SNHU's Gary McKay (Billerica, Mass.) would tally the lone goal of the frame, giving the Penmen the 4-3 advantage entering halftime. 

Saint Anselm's Tyler Steinetz scored 50 seconds into the third quarter to tie the score at 4-4, but SNHU posted three-straight goals by Novaco, Ryan Woodford (Scituate, Mass.) and James Sabino (Danvers, Mass.) to take the 7-4 advantage entering the final quarter.  Woodford's goal marked the first of his career. 

Saint Anselm added two more goals in the fourth quarter, but the Penmen held on to the 7-6 advantage to post their first conference win of the 2011 season. 

Merluzzo led all Penmen scorers on the afternoon, followed by Novaco's two goals.  Greg Reynolds (Scituate, Mass.) dished out three assists for the Penmen.

For Saint Anselm, Daniel Sullivan led scorers with two goals and an assist, while Steinetz added two goals and Ryan Henry added two assists. 

SNHU goaltender Brendan O'Brien (Hopkinton, Mass.) earned the win in net by posting 14 saves.  Dan Flynn posted 13 saves in the loss for Saint Anselm.  The Hawks outshot the Penmen 40-31 on the afternoon and both teams finished 0-for-2 on extra-man opportunities. 

Southern New Hampshire is idle until Tuesday, April 5 when it hosts Assumption College at 7:00 p.m. in Northeast-10 Conference action at Larkin Field.