| Date |
Saturday, May 4, 2019 (2 p.m.) |
| Matchup |
#22 Merrimack (9-8, 8-5 NE10)
#19 New Haven (12-6, 9-4 NE10) |
| Venue |
Ted Grant Field // Syracuse, N.Y. |
| Multimedia |
Live Stats // Video |
| Social Media |
@MerrimackWLAX // Instagram |
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – After posting one of the biggest upsets that the Northeast-10 Conference Championship has seen in recent memory, the No. 22 Merrimack College women's lacrosse team will look to ride that momentum into the semifinal round of the league tournament on Saturday, when it meets 19
th-ranked and sixth-seeded New Haven at Ted Grant Field on the campus of Le Moyne. Game time is set for 2 p.m.
Merrimack in the NE10 Championship:
- Merrimack is making its 14th appearance in the league tournament, third most in the league, and second straight after going five seasons (2013-17) without doing so.
- Following its upset as the No. 7 seed over second-seeded Adelphi on Wednesday, Merrimack has now reached the semifinal round of the tournament for the 101h occasions and second straight year after not doing so from 2011-17.
- The Warriors will now be looking to reach their fourth NE10 Championship game and first since 2006. They fell to Stonehill on all three of their previous occasions (2001, 2005, 2006).
Five Things To Know:
- Despite an impressive 8-5 record in the conference standings, Merrimack finished as the No. 7 seed for the 2019 NE10 Championship due to a logjam in the standings that saw five teams separated by one win and a four-way tie for third place. But that didn't dissuade the Warriors, who made history by upsetting seven-time champion Adelphi in the quarterfinal round by a 16-14 margin. Adelphi had reached the NE10 Finals in each of the last nine years and had won a league-high seven titles in that span but were denied the opportunity to do so after Merrimack's victory, the first for the program over the Panthers since 2001.
- Merrimack went 5-4 down the stretch in the regular season, outscoring its opponents 125-84 in that span while averaging nearly 14 goals per game during that stretch. All of Merrimack's losses this year have been against nationally ranked teams, as well as one Division I opponent.
- Merrimack is now averaging 13.18 goals per game while yielding 10.12 per game on the other end, ranking fifth and fourth, respectively, in the NE10 in both category. They've scored 10-plus goals in 15 out of their 17 games thus far while limiting opponents to single digits in nine games, as well.
- With 11 hat tricks in 17 games, senior Amber Feminella continues to lead the team in scoring with 73 points on the season (54g, 19a). She is six points away from tying the all-time school record and 10 goals away from doing the same. Sophomore Haley Bartlett is right behind her with 67 points (54, 13a) and recently passed 100 for her career, while junior Ally DaCosta is the team's top playmaker with 42 assists and has 64 points overall (including 28 in her last three outings). She set the school's single-game scoring record against Franklin Pierce last week and also hit the career assist century mark. Feminella also leads the team with 78 draw controls, ahead of rookie Olivia Valdes' 42, while sophomore Kelsey Daly has caused 16 turnovers, the most by any Warrior. Senior Lauren Trepaney has started every game in net and ranks in the top-26 nationally in both goaltending categories and in the top-four in the NE10 (10.24 GAA, .512 SV%).
- Merrimack had gone six years without a win against New Haven before picking up two victories last year against the Chargers, but New Haven came out on top in the regular season meeting down in Connecticut by a 20-15 score, representing the most goals allowed to an opponent by Merrimack this year. The Chargers had an upset of their own in the opening round, edging third-seeded Pace in overtime, 13-12. They finished as the No. 6 seed and are 12-6 overall coming into Saturday. Mackenzie Reh's 110 points are among the most nationally (88g, 22a), while two other Chargers are over 50 points on the year. Gianna Guerra has started every game in net and owns a 10.12 GAA and .515 SV%.
Inside the Matchup:
| #22 Merrimack (9-8, 8-5 NE10) |
Category |
#19 New Haven (12-6, 9-4 NE10) |
| 5/1 at #2 Adelphi (W, 16-14) |
Recent Games |
5/1 at Pace (W, 13-12/OT) |
| 13.18 |
Scoring Offense |
14.39 |
| 10.12 |
Scoring Defense |
10.06 |
| 45.2 |
Shooting Percentage |
49.9 |
| 38.0 |
Free Position Percentage |
46.9 |
| 16.65 |
Ground Balls |
-- |
| 18.06 |
Turnovers |
15.39 |
| 8.59 |
Caused Turnovers |
7.89 |
| 12.82 |
Draw Controls |
15.28 |
Up Next
A victory would send Merrimack to the NE10 Final for the first time since 2006, where it would match up against either top-seeded Le Moyne or fifth-seeded Assumption on Sunday (May 5) at Ted Grant Field in Syracuse, with game time set for 1 p.m.
