BOX SCORE

When and Where: March 5, 2016 – Manchester, N.H. (Larkin Field)
Score: #3 Merrimack College 19, Southern New Hampshire University 12
Records: Merrimack 3-0 (2-0 Northeast-10), SNHU 0-1 (0-1 Northeast-10)

Senior Cameron Joyce (Braintree, Mass.) scored four goals and assisted on six others to total a career-best 10 points, but the Southern New Hampshire University men's lacrosse team fell at home in its season opener to No. 3 Merrimack College by a final score of 19-12.

Joyce had a hand in all but two of the Penmen's goals on Saturday, found the back of the net on four of his six shot attempts, collected a pair of groundballs and caused a turnover. He set a new personal benchmark for assists in a single contest, and scored at least four times in a game for the third time in his career.

After Max Allen staked the Warriors to a 1-0 lead less than four minutes into the first quarter, junior Daniel Trainor (Billerica, Mass.) knotted the the game off a feed from classmate Keifer Heckman (Peabody, Mass.) with 8:57 remaining in the opening period.

Merrimack responded with a nine-goal run over final 5:45 of the first and the opening 7:42 of the second stanza to build a 10-1 advantage. Allen completed a first quarter hat trick with markers at 12:51 and 14:33 before he added his fourth of the afternoon two minutes into the second. John Bassett found the back of the net three times during that stretch, while Jack Trask added two goals and Ryan Poirier potted one during the 13:37 stretch.

Heckman put a stop to the Warriors' streak with 6:06 to play before the half with help from Joyce. After Joyce chased the Merrimack goalkeeper from his cage, Trainor forced a turnover that Joyce corralled. He then fired a pass to a wide-open Heckman on the doorstep that was deposited into the vacated net. The teams would exchange goals over the remainder of the quarter, and Merrimack carried an 11-3 edge into the intermission.

Heckman opened the second half with a mandown marker from Trainor at 1:11 to close the gap to seven, and after Poirier responded for the visitors, Joyce setup sophomore Corey Cairo (Wading River, N.Y.) for his first of the year to make it 12-5. The rest of the third belonged to the Warriors, as they used a 4-1 push to maintain a double-digit lead after 45 minutes of play.

Southern New Hampshire controlled much of the action during the fourth and outscored Merrimack by a 6-3 margin. Joyce netted a hat trick over the final 15 minutes, while Heckman added two goals and junior Zach Jacobs (Tewksbury, Mass.) collected his first of 2016.

Heckman finished the afternoon with four goals and an assist, and Trainor compiled four points on a pair of scores and two helpers. Sophomore Michael Brawley (Tewksbury, Mass.) stopped 18 shots for the Penmen in Saturday's setback.

Sam Ventresca earned the win in net for the Warriors' after turning aside four of the 11 shots he faced before Mitch Green made one save during the final 7:28. Allen led the Merrimack offense with six goals and an assist, and Bassett (4g, 2a) joined Poirier (3g, 3a) with six points apiece.

Notes:
- Joyce extended his personal point scoring streak to 19 games dating back to the 2014 season. He also extended his multipoint outing streak to six consecutive contests.
- The Warriors controlled the faceoff X on Saturday, as they won 26-of-33 trips.
- SNHU was outshot by a 63-23 margin, including a 34-17 mark in shots on goal.
- The Penmen were successful in 3-of-5 man up opportunities and 12-of-17 clear attempts, while Merrimack was 4-for-8 with the man advantage and converted 11-of-14 clears.

What's Next:
Southern New Hampshire resumes its schedule on Wednesday (March 9) when it heads to Molloy College (3-0) for a 6 p.m. faceoff against the Golden Lions. The Penmen then make the trip to Georgian Court University (0-4) on Saturday (March 12) noon tilt with the Lions, before returning home on March 19 to face Adelphi University on Larkin Field.