Second-quarter run lifts Pinkerton boys lacrosse past Merrimack (video)

MERRIMACK - Every time the Pinkerton Academy boys lacrosse team takes on Merrimack High School, Astros coach Steve Gaudreau feels the Tomahawks have gotten better than the last time they played.

On Monday night, it took Gaudreau's players a little while to figure that out, too.

After a slow start, Pinkerton's offense woke up to score five goals in the second quarter to break open a close game and the Astros kept Merrimack at a distance throughout the second half on the way to a 14-5 win in a Division I game.

Matt Feole led the way for Pinkerton (6-4, No. 5 in the NHHSSports Coaches Poll) with five goals while Joey Gallo had four goals and two assists and Michael Uber had three goals and an assist.

The Astros had a 2-1 lead at the end of the first quarter despite outshooting Merrimack 11-2. Tomahawks goalie Nolan Anderson made seven of his 14 saves in the first quarter to keep his team in it.

"I thought in the first quarter, we were settling for bad shots, the location of our shots were bad, which were leading to quick possessions," Gaudreau said. "And then they were very patient on offense. They turned the ball over, but they got the game where they wanted it as far as pace. That hurt us. Their (goalie) made some saves, but I think we adjusted well in the second quarter."

Merrimack (6-2, No. 9) was able to stretch out its possessions, but didn't have much to show for it, turning the ball over nine times in the first quarter, many of them unforced.

"Dropping the ball, not making the right read, maybe we got a little jammed up," Merrimack coach Brian Miller said. "We certainly did not give them our best."

Jackson Forbes had three goals for the Tomahawks while Kyle Dunn and Ryan Rezendes also had a goal apiece. Trent Jackson had two assists and Henry Tobin and Reimello Hyde had one apiece.

Pinkerton also got goals from Adam Scala and Cody Santomassino while Ryan Lynch had an assist. Tyler LeBlanc (three saves) and Curtis Michaud (two) split time in goal and Cole Frank was 18 of 20 on faceoffs.

For stretches of the game, and at times this season, the Astros have been unable to take advantage of Frank's success on faceoffs.

"It’s not mystery that we should have an advantage faceoff-wise, and what we’re trying to get the guys to understand is that we can’t negate that advantage," Gaudreau said. "Sometimes you get out there and you want to go, go, go and rip. You think you can get any shot to go and do whatever you want. They’re not a team where you can just show up and do whatever you want. We had to settle in and execute, and we did that."

It took a little while at the start of the second quarter, but after a stop by Anderson, the groundball went right to Feole and he buried a shot to give Pinkerton a 3-1 lead with 8:37 to go until halftime.

Merrimack got one of its faceoff wins after that goal and was able to keep possession for more than two minutes, but a crease violation turned the ball over and Pinkerton went down in transition, getting a goal from Scala with 5:54 remaining in the quarter. Gallo and Feole added back-to-back goals 42 seconds apart to make it 6-1 and then Gallo scored again in the final seconds for a 7-1 halftime lead.

Forbes scored to open the second half for Merrimack, but any momentum was shortlived, as Pinkerton tacked on three goals in 54 seconds to take a 10-2 lead with 8:21 to go in the third.

"I think Pinkerton moved the ball really well," Miller said. "We obviously struggled at the faceoff-x, as everyone does against (Frank). In transition, they were solid, they were crisp.

"There’s three phases of lacrosse like every other sport. I thought Pinkerton was smart and crisp and fast in that regard. That gave them more time of possession on offense. We had (caused) turnovers, we had looks, we had saves, we had clearing opportunities, but in transition, they did a nice job."

Following a stretch that saw Pinkerton drop four of five games, Gaudreau felt good about getting a win over a Merrimack team that was sitting atop Division I.

"Our guys did a job, they battled," he said. "We did what we needed to do. We need to clean a few things up. Road victory against the first-place team, I’ll take that."