Ten-Goal Fourth Quarter Guides Wildcats Past Merrimack, 18-13

Wednesday, March 18

Durham, N.H.

4 PM

University of New Hampshire

4-5

Merrimack

3-6

Merrimack

New Hampshire

Photo by: Maya Grainger

Ten-Goal Fourth Quarter Guides Wildcats Past Merrimack, 18-13

3/18/2026 7:09:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

Libby Boland netted five goals while Rose Pavuk contributed eight points.

DURHAM, N.H. — The University of New Hampshire women's lacrosse team completed the comeback over Merrimack College (3-6, 0-0 MAAC) on Wednesday afternoon (March 18) at Wildcat Stadium, winning 18-13.

HOW IT HAPPENED

1Q
-New Hampshire's offense got going early in the opening quarter, when Rose Pavuk (York, Maine) found Libby Boland (Victor, N.Y.) with a pass from behind the net, giving the sophomore an opportunity in front where she beat Merrimack's Hannah Lawrence for her 12^th goal of the season.

-Merrimack responded at the 10:20 mark with a strike from Lindsay Atkinson to tie it up at 1-1.

-The Wildcats regained the lead with 8:43 to play on a strike from Julia Gronda (Pompton Plains, N.J.), when the senior took a feed in front from Rose Pavuk.

-Merrimack knotted things up 5:09 later on a shot in front from Sophia Ingenito.

-With 1:49 to play, Makayla Keys (Fairport, N.Y.) rifled a shot by Lawrence for the Wildcats' third goal of the quarter and the junior's 10^th score of the season.

2Q
-Merrimack netted their third equalizer of the game at the 13:49 mark in the second quarter, when Atkinson beat the defense for her second goal of the game, knotting things up at 3-3.

-New Hampshire regained the lead 1:40 later, when Makayla Keys dished the ball in front of the net to Libby Boland, who sprung it past Lawrence for her second of the game to make it 4-3.

-Merrimack tied things up at 11:34 with a strike from Mia Estelle.

-The Wildcats went back up at 10:14 when Dale Meskill (Keller, Texas) fed Piper Boudreau (Chelmsford, Mass.) the ball in front before the junior found the back of the net to take a 5-4 edge.

-New Hampshire doubled their lead 1:20 later, when Mira Flaherty (Weymouth, Mass.) beat Lawrence on the free position opportunity, netting her first-collegiate goal to take a 6-4 advantage.

-Merrimack found a pair of scores in a 57 second span, with a strike from Ashlyn Campbell at 7:20 and a free position score from Sophia Ingenito at 6:23 to tie things up at 6-6.

-The Warriors took their first lead of the afternoon with 2:32 to play when Campbell beat the defense for her second score of the game.

-Merrimack netted three more goals to close the quarter, with strikes from Camryn Chamberlain at 1:46, Sophia Ingenito at 1:09, and Mia Estelle at 0:17 to make it a 10-6 game at halftime.

3Q
-The Warriors extended their advantage at the 13:40 mark, when Sophia Ingenito connected on a free position try to make it 11-6.

-Merrimack found their eighth-straight goal of the contest just 86 seconds later on a strike from Lindsay Atkinson, her third of the game, to bring it to a 12-6 score.

-New Hampshire netted their first score of the half with 4:29 to play in the third quarter, when Libby Boland took a feed from Kate O'Rourke (Franklin, Mass.) and netted it for her 15^th goal of the season and her third of the game.

-With 55 seconds to play in the quarter, Rose Pavuk took a feed from Eva de Matteis (New Boston, N.H.) on the doorstep, beating the goalkeeper to make it 12-8 at the end of the third.

4Q
-The Wildcats offense struck fire in the fourth quarter, with eight goals in the opening 10:40 to take a 16-12 edge. In the offensive flurry, Eva de Matteis netted her first two goals of the season, while Rose Pavuk scored twice, and Julia Gronda, Kate O'Rourke, Makayla Keys, and Libby Boland each earned a score.

-Merrimack got one back at 1:50 on a Sophia Ingenito goal to make it 16-13.

-The Wildcats brought about the final 18-13 decision with goals from Rose Pavuk and Libby Boland in the closing minute of the game.

WILDCAT GAME HIGHS
Goals: Boland (5)
Assists: R. Pavuk (4)
Points: R. Pavuk (8)
Shots on Goal: Boland (5)
Ground Balls: Donovan (4)
Draw Controls: Collins (5)
Caused Turnovers: Gronda (4)

GOALTENDING
UNH
Makenna Schultz: 5 saves, 13 goals allowed, .278 SV%

Merrimack
Hannah Lawrence: 1 save, 12 goals allowed, .077 SV%
Sydney Cogliano: 2 saves, 6 goals allowed, .250 SV%

BY THE NUMBERS
-10 players earned a point in the comeback win, paced by four-goal, four-assist day from Rose Pavuk, setting a career-high for points in a game with eight.

-Additionally, Libby Boland's five-goal, two-assist performance set career-highs for goals in a game and points in a game, totaling seven points in the win.

-Eva de Matteis also set career-highs in goals and points, netting two alongside an assist for her first-career three-point game.

-In total, eight Wildcats landed a shot on net, led by Libby Boland with five tries.

-On defense, Kendall Donovan (Westford, Mass.) tallied a team-high four ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers while Julia Gronda earned three ground balls and a team-leading four caused turnovers.

-In net, Makenna Schultz (Hinsdale, Ill.) closed her day denying 5-of-13 shots faced, good for a .278 save percentage.
-With the Wildcats' 18 goals, the offense posted their highest-scoring performance in the Taylor Bastien era.

NEXT UP • AWAY AT BINGHAMTON, SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 12 P.M.
The Wildcats resume conference action on Saturday, March 21, as New Hampshire visits Binghamton University (3-6, 0-1 AE) at Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, N.Y., for a 12pm draw.

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