NORTH ANDOVER, MA – In a showdown for first place in the Northeast-10, the fourth-ranked Merrimack men's lacrosse team was edged 5-4 by top-ranked Le Moyne College at a rainy Warrior Field Saturday afternoon. The Warriors had the last possession with 10.6 seconds left in the fourth, but Bryan MacPhie's shot was stopped by Doug McIver as time expired.

Brian Welch scored the game-winning goal, breaking a 4-4 tie with 6:30 to play in regulation, as he took a feed from Brooks Robinson, with the Dolphins up a man, and beat Cory Spinale.

There were just two goals in the second half, with the Warriors tying the game at four with 3:01 to play in the third, as David Robinson picked up his eighth of the season with Michael Balbuena getting the assist.

The Warriors trailed 2-0 after the first quarter, but Balbuena cut the lead to one as he took a feed from Jo Pisano and ripped it over the stick McIver. The Dolphins recovered, getting goals from Jack Harmatuk and Brian Welch, but Greg Rogowski and Pisano scored 4:30 apart, cutting the lead to 4-3 at halftime.

The weather clearly became a factor as time went on, as there were 27 second-half combined turnovers, compared to just eight in the first 30 minutes. Spinale was sensational in net, stopping 12 shots in the loss while picking up seven ground balls, while McIver had 11 saves.

Merrimack (8-1, 3-1 NE-10) visits Saint Anselm Tuesday at 4:00 p.m.

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North Andover, Mass. – The No. 1 Le Moyne College men's lacrosse team grinded out a 5-4 Northeast-10 Conference win over No. 4 Merrimack College at Warrior Field. Saturday afternoon's game saw the final pair of unbeaten teams in Division II men's lacrosse meet. Senior midfielder Brian Welch (Ithaca, N.Y./Ithaca) led Le Moyne's offensive attack with two goals, including the game-winner.

Welch's second marker was the only goal scored in the fourth quarter. He took a pass from classmate Brooks Robinson (Preble, N.Y./Tully) and broke a 4-4 tie with a man-up goal midway through the fourth quarter. Le Moyne's defense kept Merrimack scoreless in the fourth quarter and senior goalkeeper Doug McIver (Altamont, N.Y./Albany Academy) made three crucial stops over the game's final three minutes. McIver finished with 11 saves on the afternoon, including one on Merrimack's final possession as time expired.

The Dolphins netted four of the game's first five goals but the Warriors strung together a three-goal streak between the second and third quarters to pull even. Le Moyne opened the scoring two minutes into the game behind a goal from sophomore Jikado Hanna (Hopkinton, Mass./Bridgton Academy). It was the defensive midfielder's first tally of the season. Sophomore Nick DiSarro (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna) gave the Dolphins a two-goal edge with just under four minutes to play in the first quarter, when he took a pass from classmate Jack Harmatuk (Syracuse, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy/Syracuse U.) and turned it into his eleventh goal of the season.

Merrimack cracked Le Moyne's defense for the first time at the 12:28 mark of the second quarter, when Michael Balbuena sent in a score. Harmatuk, Le Moyne's leading goal scorer this season with 22, joined the scoring action less than a minute later on a feed from DiSarro. Welch followed with his first goal of the afternoon to give the Dolphins a three-goal edge, 4-1, with 9:25 to play in the half. But the Warriors struck for a pair of unassisted goals from Greg Rogowski and Jo Pisano over the final seven minutes of the half to pull within one at halftime.

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2009-04-11