Late Surge Not Enough As Women's Lacrosse Falls At Southern New Hampshire, 15-12
MANCHESTER, NH – The Merrimack women's lacrosse team could not pick up their first win of the young season on Monday afternoon as they fell on the road to the Southern New Hampshire Penmen by the score of 15-12.
Merrimack (0-4, 0-4 NE-10) will return to the field on Wednesday, March 20 as they will host Le Moyne for their home opening contest at Martone-Mejail Field at 4 p.m.
The Penmen extended their lead to a game-high six goals with 17:45 to play in the game but the Warriors made a late push to bring them back within two following four straight goals in just over an eight minute span. Merrimack however could not pull any closer as they dropped their fourth straight game, 15-12.
The Warriors were led offensively by senior captain Jenn Pino (North Andover, Mass.) who buried a team-high three goals while Tyler Szymanski (Framingham, Mass.) continued her strong play with three goals and a assist, all in the second half. Olivia Huie (Norwell, Mass.) finished off her night with two goals, a assist, two ground balls and two draw controls.
After the Penmen took the early 2-0 lead, Merrimack responded quickly with two goals in a 10 second span to tie the game. Giulia Palombo (Sandwich, Mass.) scored her second goal of the season while Huie recorded her ninth.
Trailing by two once again, 5-3, just over halfway into the first half, Pino found the back of the net on a free position attempt to cut the deficit to one. The Penmen answered quickly with their sixth goal of the game before Aubrie Stouffer (Souderton, PA) buried her fifth goal of the young season, making the score 6-5 in favor of the home squad.
Southern New Hampshire was able to close out the half on a 2-0 scoring run to take the 8-5 lead into the locker room. The Penmen held the 16-13 advantage in shots on goal while they also recorded four free position goals while Merrimack was held to one free position goal.
The second half opened up with the Penmen scoring the first two goals before Szymanski scored her first of the game with 20 minutes to play in the contest. Southern New Hampshire extended their lead to a game-high six with 17:45 to play.
Merrimack responded quickly with a 4-0 scoring run to bring the game within reach as Mia Rapolla (Gorham, Maine), Pino, Szymanski and Huie each netted goals. The Penmen then outscored the Warriors 2-1 in the final five minutes of action to secure the victory with the lone goal for the Warriors credited to Pino.
For the game, Merrimack was outshot 37-34 while converting on 11-of-14 clearing attempts. The home team was held to only 10-for-16 on their clearing attempts.
Inna Hedden (Woodbine, MD) made 10 saves during the first 45 minutes of the game while Sam Kiesel (Lakeville, Mass.) made three saves in relief of Hedden in the second half. Stouffer finished off her fourth career game with a team-high three ground balls and a team-high four shots on goal.
