North Andover, Mass. – Sixth-ranked Merrimack College used a 7-1 run over the final 8:02 to rally for a 12-11 win over the fourth-ranked Le Moyne College men's lacrosse team in Northeast-10 Conference action on Saturday afternoon at Duane Stadium.

The Warriors, who won their first national championship last year, scored the first two goals of the game in the initial 3:08. Charlie Bertrand, last year's USILA Co-Player of the Year with Le Moyne's Dan Entenmann, got the scoring started at the 13:46 mark with his 29th goal of the season. After Nick Ponte made his first save of the game, the Warriors scored in transition as Sean Black finished off a feed from Jake Holava with 11:52 remaining in the quarter.

The Dolphins got on the scoreboard at the 7:58 mark as freshman attackman Kevin Sheehan (Camillus, N.Y./West Genesee) netted his 10th goal of the season off a pass from Entenmann.

Bertrand put the Warriors back up by two with 5:07 remaining in the quarter by scoring from the left side off a restart of a missed shot.

Le Moyne scored all four goals of the second quarter to take the lead. Junior attackman Riley Larson (Fairfield, Conn./Ludlowe) started the run at the 11:59 mark after taking a pass from junior attackman Matt Hutchings (Marcellus, N.Y./Marcellus). Following eight and one-half minutes of scoreless play, junior midfielder Ross Filtch (Marcellus, N.Y./Marcellus/Siena) evened the score at three with 3:28 left off a feed from Hutchings. Sheehan gave the Dolphins the lead with 1:57 remaining after collecting a feed from Entenmann, who pushed the lead to two just 10 seconds later after scooping up the ball off the faceoff.

The Dolphins extended their run to five straight goals with the first tally of the second half. After picking up the loose ball off his own missed shot, Entenmann fed Larson at the 14:42 mark for his second marker of the game.

Merrimack snapped its scoring drought of 21:16 as Max Morrill scored at the 13:51 mark off a pass from behind the net by Bertrand to get the Warriors back within two.

The Dolphins scored three times in a span of 69 seconds to extend their lead to 9-4. Hutchings ignited the spurt with his 17th goal of the season with 6:50 remaining in the quarter off a pass from senior attackman/midfielder Ryan Cosgrove (Churchville, N.Y./Churchville-Chili). Only 59 seconds later, Hutchings found sophomore midfielder Ben McCreary (Cicero, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy) on the crease for his fifth goal of the campaign. Off the ensuing faceoff, Entenmann collected the ball and raced up field before flipping a pass to Larson, who buried his 18th goal of the year to force a Merrimack timeout.

Black got the Warriors within 9-5 with an unassisted goal with 3:38 left in the quarter.

Le Moyne pushed its lead back to five with 11:18 remaining in the contest as Larson made it 10-5 with his 19th goal of the year off a feed from sophomore defender Connor Haims (Hamburg, N.Y./Hamburg).

The Warriors started their comeback with three straight goals. Black started the run with an unassisted goal with 8:02 to play. Just 45 seconds later, Christian Thomas netted his ninth goal of the season off a pass from Black. Off a restart of a missed shot, Michael O'Connell finished off a pass from Thomas with 4:55 remaining.

Following a turnover by the Warriors off the ensuing faceoff, Entenmann registered his sixth goal of the season with 4:07 left to give the Dolphins a three-goal lead again.

Merrimack scored four times over 3:21 to win the game. Bertrand started the closing run with 3:09 remaining by posting an extra-man goal off a feed from Christian Thomas. Dom Thomas got the Warriors within 11-10 with 2:12 with his fifth goal of the season off a pass from O'Connell. After winning the ensuing faceoff and calling a timeout with 1:53 remaining, Dom Thomas evened the score at 11 with 1:44 to play, while drawing a penalty, after taking a pass from Christian Thomas. In the extra-man opportunity, O'Connell scored his seventh goal of the season with 48.8 seconds to play after taking a pass from Christian Thomas.

The Dolphins won the ensuing faceoff, but were unable to get a shot off before time ran out in the game.

Junior goalkeeper Riley Smith (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker/Onondaga C.C.) made eight saves, all over the first three quarters, in suffering his second loss of the season. Ponte tallied 20 saves, including four in the fourth quarter, to improve to 3-0 between the pipes.

Le Moyne (6-2, 3-1 NE10), which drops to 4-3 in its last seven regular-season games at Merrimack, returns to action on Wednesday at Assumption College at 3:00 p.m.