PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – Facing their third-consecutive ranked opponent, the ninth-ranked Pace University men's lacrosse team was defeated by No. 2 Merrimack College on Saturday by a score of 17-7. The loss shifts the Setters' record to 5-5 overall this season, and 4-4 inside the tough Northeast-10 Conference.

Inside the Numbers
*The Blue and Gold, who totaled seven goals for the second-straight game, were led by a pair of tallies each from freshmen Timothy January (Peabody, MA/Peabody Veterans Memorial) and Roman Fillyaw (Norwalk, CT/Brien McMahon).

*Michael Pappalardo (Ossining, NY/Ossining), Peter Bashar (Stratford, CT/St. Joseph) and Joshua Kreitler (Shelton, CT/Shelton) also each scored for Pace. Liam Brennan (Huntington Station, NY/Walt Whitman), Joseph Diggle (West Islip, NY/West Islip) Patrick Mulcahy (West Islip, NY/West Islip) all added assists.

*Facing a tough Merrimack attack, senior goalie Robert Beshlian (Wantagh, NY/Wantagh) racked up 13 saves. He has now registered at least 10 stops in 9-of-10 games this season, while sitting third in the NE10 in save percentage (57.5).

*The 17 goals scored by the Warriors marked the highest total given up by Pace this season. Merrimack put together a 30-15 margin in shots on goal.

*Charlie Bertand scored a game-high five goals for Merrimack, while Jack Trask and Dom Thomas each put in three apiece.

How it Happened
After January began the game's scoring with a man-up goal at 13:01 of the first quarter, an 8-0 stretch from Merrimack set the tone for the afternoon.

Bertrand put in three-straight goals to spark the run, while Kyle Stenberg found the back of the net to put the Warriors up 8-1 at the 9:21 mark of the second quarter.

Bashar scored Pace's second goal of the game to temporarily halt the momentum, but the Setters were never able to put together a run of their own.

After both teams exchanged goals mid-way through the second quarter, Merrimack put in two more right before halftime to take an 11-3 lead into halftime.

A 6-1 stretch after the break provided Merrimack with its largest advantage of the game at 17-4 with 8:50 left in regulation. Fillyaw put in the game's final two goals, marking the first two tallies in his career.

Up Next
The Setters hit the road for two games next week, beginning with a matchup at Franklin Pierce on Tuesday afternoon (3:30 p.m.).