Dunn, Neyland Pace UNH Past Merrimack, 20-9, in Season Opener

Friday, February 26

DURHAM, N.H.

3 PM

University of New Hampshire

1-0

Merrimack

0-1

Merrimack

New Hampshire

Photo by: Jack Bouchard

Dunn, Neyland Pace UNH Past Merrimack, 20-9, in Season Opener

2/26/2021 10:02:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

DURHAM, N.H. – Sophomore Liv Dunn (Newbury, Mass.) recorded six points and senior Julia Neyland (Boxborough, Mass.) tallied five points to lead the University of New Hampshire women's lacrosse team to Friday afternoon's 20-9 victory against Merrimack College at Wildcat Stadium.

Dunn, who did not record a point in her abbreviated 2020 rookie season, finished with five goals and an assist. Neyland recorded three goals and two assists to match her career highs in both assists and points.

Six other Wildcats tallied multiple points, including grad student Rylee Leonard (Coventry, R.I.; one goal two assists). Junior Abby Cranney (Amherst, N.H.), senior Sabrina Grovom (San Marcos, Calif.), freshman Olivia O'Connor (Hopkinton, Mass.), junior Delaney Pratt (Lafayette, Colo.), and sophomore Ava Schroeder (Niskayuna, N.Y.) each scored two goals.

Junior goalkeeper Issy Torres (Elmhurst, Ill.) was credited with eight saves.

Merrimack was led offensively by Meghan Dzialo (four goals). Starting goalie Gabby Cacciola made 13 saves and allowed 13 goals in 47 minutes, 45 seconds. Courtney Dishaw stopped 2 of 9 shots on goal in 12:15.

This marked the season opener for both teams. UNH is scheduled to return to action Feb. 28 (3 p.m.) at UConn.

WATCH VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS | PHOTO GALLERY

FIRST HALF

The Wildcats scored the first seven goals of the game to build a 7-0 lead midway through the first half.
Grovom got the scoring started with a free-position goal from the left side at 27:11 and, three minutes later, O'Connor finished Neyland's feed from the right wing for a 2-0 advantage.
Cranney and Dunn scored 38 seconds apart to quickly extend the marging to 4-0 at 21:01.
Schroeder scored UNH's third free-position goal of the game for a 5-0 lead at 19:43, then Leonard and Dunn netted unassisted tallies at 17:29 and 15:19, respectively to give the 'Cats a 7-0 lead.
Merrimack went on a 3-1 run to close within 8-3 at 6:28.
Pratt and Dzialo exchanged player-up goals to make it 9-4 going into halftime.

Liv Dunn recorded three points (2g, 1a) as UNH built an 8-1 first-half lead. Liv_Dunn_022621_7902

SECOND HALF

Pratt's second goal and Neyland's second assist gave New Hampshire a 10-4 lead at 21:01.
O'Connor scored her second goal of the game to reestablish UNH's seven-goal margin, 11-4, at 18:55.
Merrimack got into the second-half scoring column on Catherine Mahanna's tally at 17:18.
UNH scored the next three goals, however, to push the lead to 14-5. Sophomore Izzy Holmes (Seattle, Wash.) and Schroeder struck 38 seconds apart at 12:53 and 12:15, then Neyland netted her second goal at 9:22.
The Warriors went on a 3-1 spurt to inch within seven goals, 15-8, at 6:51.
The 'Cats answered with three goals in less than two minutes to build a double-digit lead, 18-8. Cranney ignited the run with a goal at 6:14, then Dunn scored back-to-back goals at 5:22 and 4:33.
Dzialo's fourth goal ended the run and cut the deficit to single figures, 18-9, at 3:05.
Goals by Grovom (at 1:44) and Dunn (21 seconds) closed the scoring.

Julia Neyland recorded two goals and an assist in the second half as UNH outscored the guests 11-5 after halftime.

GAME NOTEBOOK

UNH recorded the advantage in shots (40-21), shots on goal (35-17), ground balls (22-13), draw controls (17-13) and turnovers (9-13).
Both teams excelled on clear attempts. UNH was 16 of 17 (94,1%) and MC went 13-for-14 (92.9%).
The Wildcats scored on 5 of 8 free-position shots. Merrimack went 2-for-5.

UNH NOTEBOOK

The 20 goals is UNH's highest total since April 20, 2019 (20-14 win at Vermont).
It is also the highest goal output in a season opener since March 19, 1994, when the Wildcats were 21-3 victors at St. Joseph's.
The 40 shots is the highest total since March 31, 2018, when the 'Cats tallied 44 shots in a 17-0 win at Hartford.
This was the first multiple-goal and multiple-point game for Grovom, who tallied two points each of her first three seasons.
Pratt recorded a team-high six draw controls.
Leonard and O'Connor tied for the team lead in ground balls with three.
Leonard, who redshirted the 2020 season, was UNH's leader in points (55) and assists (22) in 2019.
Four Wildcats were credited with one caused turnover: junior Taylor Dudek (Amherst, N.H.), sophomore Jessie Hounchell (Manchester, N.H.), Schroeder and O'Connor.
The shot leaders were Neyland (nine), Dunn (seven) and Cranney (seven).

SERIES NOTEBOOK

UNH has won both meetings against Merrimack.
The first matchup was the 2020 season opener, a 15-9 win at UNH's Tucker Field.

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