The Merrimack men’s lacrosse team will play top-seeded Siena in the semifinal round of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Men’s Lacrosse Championships, according to an April 27 announcement. The Warriors are returning to Siena for the second time in two weeks, but this time with a spot in the championship game at stake.
This matchup follows Merrimack’s opening round win against Quinnipiac, where they secured a 14-12 victory at Duane Stadium. Siena advanced directly to the semifinals after receiving a first-round bye.
Merrimack enters the contest on a five-game winning streak and has won six of its last seven games. During this run, the team has consistently scored at least 11 goals per game. Head coach Mike Scimanna said after their recent postseason win, “Right now we’re playing our best lacrosse of the season, which is great. We’ll certainly have our hands full with Siena, they’re going to want pay back, just like we did today. We need a great three days of preparation, need to get our legs back, watch some film and go back to the drawing board.” He added: “But if we play with confidence like we did today, I don’t think there’s any team in the conference we can’t beat.”
Key contributors for Merrimack include Colin Kruger with a team-best 43 points on 35 goals; Jack Savla who has tallied 24 goals and 12 assists; Finn Dougherty who has scored 23 goals; and John Savino who netted three goals against Quinnipiac. In goal, Jaden Galfano—named MAAC Defensive Player of the Week during the final week of regular season—has posted a .533 save percentage.
Siena is led by senior attack Caden Olmstead (35 goals and 12 assists), sophomore faceoff specialist Logan Banek (.692 percentage), and defender Riley Hegarty.
Earlier this season on April 22, Merrimack handed Siena its first loss in conference play with a decisive 14-6 victory.
