Box Score NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Morgan O'Reilly and Carson Spooner each tallied five points as the Sacred Heart University men's lacrosse team fell 11-10 on the road to Merrimack on Saturday afternoon. O'Reilly scored three goals in the final quarter, pulling SHU within one goal, but the Pioneers were not able to pull it away and dropped its first road game of the season.

Records:
Sacred Heart: 0-2
Merrimack: 2-0

Top Performers:
Morgan O'Reilly: 5 goals
Carson Spooner: 2 goals, 3 assists
Sal Miccio: 2 assists
Alex Pazienza: 14 saves
Luke Romanek: 14 face-off wins, 8 ground balls 

Of Note:
In a low-scoring opening quarter, SHU trailed 2-1 after getting on the board first off a goal from Spooner.

Tucker Spencer scored his second goal of the season to open the second quarter and tie the game at 2-2. Merrimack had back-to-back tallies to take a 4-2 advantage with just over 10 minutes left until the break.

Will Moulton answered at 9:59 as the Pioneers scored three straight goals from Moulton, Spooner, and Jake Ward to take a 5-4 lead with 6:09 left in the second quarter. The Warriors scored two straight to take back the lead, 6-5, but O'Reilly scored a pair that gave SHU the 7-6 edge heading into halftime.

Merrimack scored three times in the third quarter and was able to hold the Pioneers scoreless as the home team took a 9-7 lead heading into the final quarter.

The Warriors score twice within the first five minutes of the fourth quarter to take a four-goal lead, but the rest was all O'Reilly for the Pioneers. O'Reilly scored the final three goals of the game, including his fifth of the day with four seconds left in the game, which put SHU in a position to potentially tie it up with one more quick face-off possession, but Merrimack picked up the face-off win and was able to hold on for the 11-10 victory.

Senior goalkeeper Alex Pazienza had another huge performance for the Pioneers, tallying 14 saves with one caused turnover and three ground balls.

The Pioneers outshot the Warriors 51-37, and Luke Romanek held a 14-10 advantage in face-off wins.

Up Next:
Sacred Heart will play its second consecutive road game at Holy Cross next Saturday, February 17, at 12:00 pm.