May 7, 2010

North Andover, Mass. - The seventh-ranked Merrimack men's lacrosse team defeated Adelphi University 14-3 Friday night in the Northeast-10 Semifinals to advance to its second straight conference championship against top-ranked Le Moyne College on Sunday.

Adelphi, who entered Friday's game winners of eight straight, concludes its season 10-5 overall.

The Panthers led early, as Chris Aiello scored on an assist by Kevin Kemp in the first minute. Joe Vitale followed at the 8:48 mark with help from Danny Blau to make it 2-0. However, Merrimack rattled off six unanswered first-half goals from six different scorers to lead 6-2 at the half.

The Warriors continued their rally in the second half. Mike Iorio found the back of the net for an unassisted man-up goal at 10:34, but Merrimack outscored Adelphi, 8-1, in the stanza to cruise to victory.

Corey Lunny led Merrimack with three goals and one assist.

Merrimack won 12-of-21 faceoffs, including all five in the first quarter and forced 25 turnovers, seven off clearing attempts.

Cory Spinale made 11 saves in the victory, as Merrimack dominated the shots, outshooting Adelphi 61-25. Senior Devin Schneiderbauer made 18 stops in the loss.