Strong Second Half Gives #12 Women's Lacrosse 13-9 Playoff Win
NORTH ANDOVER, MA– The 12th-ranked Merrimack women's lacrosse team tallied seven goals in a 14:07 span in the second half, propelling them to a 13-9 victory over New Haven in the Northeast-10 Quarterfinals.
Merrimack (12-6) will advance to its third straight Northeast-10 Semifinals and take on #1 Adelphi on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Garden City, New York. The winner of Saturday's game takes on the winner of #2 Le Moyne and #3 Stonehill in the NE-10 Championship on Sunday at 12 p.m. at Adelphi.
Trailing 6-4 in the second half, the Warriors rattled off eight of the next nine goals, including seven straight, to earn a victory over New Haven in the quarterfinals for the second straight season.
Maria DeStefano (Eliot, ME) led the way scoring three times in the second half. Her second of the game and 40th of the season gave Merrimack its first lead, at 8-7 with 11:48 to play.
Tyler Szymanski (Framingham, MA), Jen Pino (North Andover, MA), Colleen Strachan (Bedford, MA), Nicole Moran (Pembroke, MA), and Christina McCarron (Westwood, MA) also scored for the hosts during the second half run, as Merrimack forced 22 turnovers in the game and outshot the Chargers 30-20 overall.
"In the second half, we played a little more like us, and we were more aggressive on the offensive side. We had an array of scorers, and the fights for the draws were the key. We are happy to be going to Long Island for the semifinals."
The teams were deadlocked at four at halftime despite Merrimack outshooting the Chargers 15-8.
Maureen Spellman made nine first-half saves, as the visitors built a 3-1 lead before Olivia Huie (Norwell, MA), Mary Pasquantonio (Plainville, MA) and Strachan answered back, with Strachan netting her 46th of the year with 26 seconds to play in the half to even the score at four.
New Haven committed 13 first-half turnovers, with Liz Lyons (Westwood, MA) forcing five of them, while Alexis Gabbe scored three of the Chargers' four goals, including her 70th of the year.
"I'm very happy with our team's composure today as we spent the first half playing a little more conservatively against a very physical and talented team," said Baker.
Lyons caused seven turnovers in the win and picked up seven more groundballs, while Inna Hedden (Woodbine, MD) made seven saves, including a free-position stop on Aubrey Duncan with four minutes left.
Pasquantonio, a second-team all-conference selection, led the way with three goals, two assists, two ground balls, two draw controls and two caused turnovers, while Strachan had three points and three draw controls. Szymanski came off the bench to tally a goal and two assists, while Pino and DeStefano each had three-point efforts.
Gabbe totaled six of New Haven's nine goals, ending her junior season with 74 tallies, while Spellman made 12 stops in the losing effort.
Merrimack and New Haven met for the third straight season in the postseason, with the Warriors now victorious in the last two, both in North Andover.
