NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. - The Holy Cross men's lacrosse team defeated Merrimack, 14-8, at Duane Stadium Wednesday evening.

With the win, Holy Cross improves to 2-1 on the season, while Merrimack moves to 0-2.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Senior Will Messineo opened the scoring three minutes into the contest before Merrimack tied the game.
• Back-to-back goals from sophomores Andrew Ottomanelli and Jake Doran gave Holy Cross the 3-1 lead. Merrimack netted another before sophomore Owen Tunney scored his first of the game.
• Messineo, senior Damien Ramondo, and freshman Aedan Cassidy each found the back of the net in the second quarter to give Holy Cross the 7-4 lead going into the halftime break.
• Cassidy and Ottomanelli opened the third quarter with a goal each before Merrimack cut the lead to 9-6.
• A five goal run by the Crusaders from Tunney, juniors Sam McDonald and Bo Webster, Cassidy, and Doran spanning the end of the third and the start of the fourth quarter put Holy Cross up 14-6 with just under seven minutes to play.
• Merrimack was able to score two more goals before the end of the game, but it proved to not be enough.

BEYOND THE BOX:

• Senior JR Long recorded 11 saves in the contest.
• Senior Michael Rincon led both sides with four caused turnovers, while sophomore Matthew Marchetta and freshman Shane McDonnell tied for the team-lead with six ground ball pickups.
• McDonnell led both sides with 13 faceoff wins, finishing the contest with a .619 win percentage.

UP NEXT:

• Holy Cross will return home to face Sacred Heart on Saturday, Feb. 14 at 12 p.m.

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