Box Score BOX SCORE
When and Where: March 5, 2017 – North Andover, Mass. (Martone-Mejail Field)
Score: #3 Merrimack College 15, Southern New Hampshire University 9
Records: SNHU 0-1 (0-1 Northeast-10 Conference), Merrimack 3-0 (1-0 Northeast-10 Conference)
Seniors Keifer Heckman (Peabody, Mass.) and Zach Jacobs (Tewksbury, Mass.) each registered four points, but the Southern New Hampshire University men's lacrosse team fell in its season-opener on Sunday at No. 3 Merrimack College, 15-9.
Heckman finished the afternoon with a pair of goals and two assists to reach the 100-point plateau for his career, while Jacobs scored once and handed out three helpers. Senior Daniel Trainor (Billerica, Mass.) added two scores in the setback, and classmate Cameron McGuire (Melrose, Mass.) added a single tally and assisted on another.
The Warriors raced out to a quick 2-0 lead, as they found the back of the net twice in the first minute of the contest. John Bassett opened the game's scoring 48 seconds into the first before Blake Boudreau doubled Merrimack's advantage just 12 seconds later. After Bassett netted his second midway through the quarter, Trainor trimmed the deficit back to a pair off a feed from Jacobs with 3:44 left in the stanza.
Kyle Stenberg reestablished the three-goal advantage with a man-up marker late in the first quarter, and he made it a 5-1 game with his second of the day at 2:08 of the second. The Penmen wasted little time responding, as junior Zach Tanner (Woburn, Mass.) potted his first of the year two minutes later from Heckman. Another three-goal burst by Merrimack put the hosts in front, 8-2, but Jacobs set up junior Corey Cairo (Wading River, N.Y.) with 1:19 remaining in the half to send the teams into the locker room with Southern New Hampshire trailing, 8-3.
The two sides exchanged scores in the third quarter and combined for eight goals during the period. Heckman opened the second half with his first of the contest at 56 seconds before sophomore Joseph Mayernik (Pearl River, N.Y.) rifled home the first of his career with 8:28 to play. After McGuire found Jacobs for his first at 11:55 to make it a 10-6 game, he used help from Heckman to notch his first of the year with 1:18 remaining.
The Warriors pushed their lead to 12-7 with nine seconds to go in the third quarter before extending it to six at 2:39 of the fourth. Jacobs found Trainor for his second with just under 11 minutes left in regulation, and after a Merrimack marker made it 14-8, Heckman capped the Penmen scoring at 7:35.
Senior Tyler Walsh (Northampton, Mass.) suffered the setback in the Southern New Hampshire cage after stopping 11 shots. Sophomore Andrew Liu (Piedmont, Calif.) collected seven groundballs and went 12-for-26 at the faceoff X, while junior Cam Rewucki (Dover, N.H.) raked in six loose balls and caused three turnovers.
Notes:
- Heckman registered multiple points for the 15th time in his last 16 games. He has at least one point in 28 of his last 32 games dating back to the 2014 seasons, and 24 games of two points or more. He is the 24th player in program history to eclipse 100 career points.
- Merrimack managed a 41-34 edge in total shots, as well as a 26-19 advantage in shots on goal.
- The Warriors were the beneficiary of a 16-12 margin of victory in faceoffs on Sunday, including a 5-1 edge during the first quarter.
What's Next:
Southern New Hampshire resumes play on Saturday (March 11) when it takes on Alderson-Broaddus University on the campus of Georgian Court University at 2 p.m.
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