UNH Rallies Past Merrimack, 10-7

Wednesday, February 23

North Andover, Mass.

3:30 PM

University of New Hampshire

1-2, 0-0AE

Merrimack

0-1, 0-0NEC

New Hampshire

Merrimack

2/23/2022 7:37:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

UNH First-Year Head Coach Kacie Lewis Records First Career Win

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Allie Connerty (Norwell, Mass.) and Emily Curtis (Walpole, Mass.) both scored two goals to propel the University of New Hampshire women's lacrosse team to Wednesday afternoon's 10-7 victory against Merrimack College at Duane Stadium.

This marked the first career victory for UNH first-year head coach Kacie Lewis.

Mackenzie MacEachern (Bedford, N.H.) and Delaney Pratt (Lafayette, Colo.) were the Wildcats' other multiple-point scorers with a goal and an assist; MacEachern also had two draw controls and a ground ball. Six other 'Cats had one point.

UNH goalie Issy Torres (Elmhurst, Ill.) was credited with eight saves and team-high three ground balls. Gabby Masseur (Nashua, N.H.) and Olivia O'Connor (Hopkinton, Mass.) both had two caused turnovers and scored a goal.

MC goalie Hayley Kowalczyk was credited with 11 saves and game-high five ground balls. Catherine Mahanna led all players with three points on three goals.

UNH, which outscored the Warriors 6-2 in the second half, is now 1-2; this was Merrimack's season opener.

"It was a really hard-fought battle across all positions today," Lewis said. "We had a lot of in-game adjustments not really knowing what Merrimack would throw at us because they also have a new coaching staff and this being their season opener. The team took it really well and was able to adapt in the moment and execute. The defense ran down multiple shot clocks, goals were spread out between eight players offensively and Issy Torres came up with two huge saves at the end of the game.

"We cleaned up some things from last weekend that had been a focus in our recent practices. It feels good to get our first win in the books and my first as a Wildcat."

Kacie Lewis_1st winIMG_2776

UP NEXT

New Hampshire returns to action Feb. 27 (1 p.m.) at home vs. 25^th-ranked UConn.

FIRST QUARTER

Merrimack had a 7-6 shot advantage and scored the only goal in the opening 15 minutes of the game.
The Warriors took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Mahanna at 12:27.

SECOND QUARTER

Both teams scored four goals in the second quarter despite MC's 11-4 shot advantage.
Early goals by Meghan Dziallo at 14:30 and Mahanna at 13:29 extended the lead to 3-0.
Connerty's first career goal – a player-up tally off a feed from Kailee Woods (Rocky Point, N.Y.) – trimmed the deficit to 3-1 at 11:26.
Olivia Valdes' free-position goal reestablished a three-goal margin, 4-1, at 10:41.
Abby Cranney (Amherst, N.H.) set up Pratt's goal at 7:56 and Curtis converted a free position into a goal 20 seconds later to quickly lift the 'Cats within 4-3.
Sophie Scearbo made it 5-3 at 6:27.
Mackenzie MacEachern (Bedford, N.H.) went the length of the field to beat the clock and pull UNH within 5-4 with 15 seconds on the clock.

THIRD QUARTER

UNH outscored the hosts 3-1 in the third quarter with a 6-4 shot advantage.
Mahanna netted her third goal of the game to give the Warriors a 6-4 lead at 14:02.
Curtis, low on the right side, corralled Pratt's pass and scored her second of the game to lift New Hampshire within 6-5 at 12:47.
UNH scored another quick transition goal at 11:42 when MacEachern once again carried the ball nearly the length of the field before passing to Connerty for the goal.
O'Connor scored her first goal of the season on a free-position shot at 4:51 to give the Wildcats their first lead of the game, 7-6.

FOURTH QUARTER

The 'Cats once again outscored MC 3-1, this time with an 8-5 shot advantage.
Katie Taranto (Brewster, N.Y.) converted a free position into her first goal of the season to extend UNH's run to four consecutive goals and the lead to 8-6 at 12:37.
Taylor Darrell ended the spurt with a goal that lifted the Warriors within 8-7 at 10:09.
Kelsey MacCallum (Franklin, Mass.) reestablished a two-goal advantage, 9-7, with her first goal of the season at 5:51.
Merrimack was awarded a free position with 2:57 remaining, but Masseur's stick check caused a turnover as Torres scooped up the ground ball.
Then at the other end of the field, Masseur helped secure the victory by scoring a free-position goal that gave the 'Cats a 10-7 lead with 1:41 remaining.

GAME NOTES

Merrimack finished with a 27-24 shot advantage but UNH had a 21-15 edge in shots on goal.
The Warriors had the edge in both draw controls (13-8) and ground balls I17-8).
UNH committed fewer turnovers with 13 in comparison to MC's 22.
The Wildcats scored on 4 of 9 free-position shots; Merrimack was 3-for-7.
New Hampshire was 20-for-22 on clear attempts; MC was 17 of 21.