Box Score BOX SCORE
When and Where: April 22, 2017 – Waterbury, Conn. (LaMoy Field)
Score: No. 16 Southern New Hampshire University 22, Post University 11
Records: SNHU 9-4, Post 5-7
Senior Keifer Heckman (Peabody, Mass.) scored seven times Saturday, including the 100th goal of his career, to lead No. 16 Southern New Hampshire University to a 22-11 victory over Post University in a nonconference men's lacrosse tilt on LaMoy Field.
Heckman, who was incorrectly credited with his 100th career goal at No. 17 Saint Anselm College on Wednesday, surpassed the century mark with ease after scoring four times in the first half and adding a second-half hat trick. Senior Daniel Trainor (Billerica, Mass.) totaled four points on two goals and a pair of helpers as part of a Penmen attack that featured 11 student-athletes with multi-point efforts.
Southern New Hampshire raced out to an early two-goal lead, as senior Zach Jacobs (Tewksbury, Mass.) opened the game's scoring at 3:54 before junior Dan Malave (Wading River, N.Y.) found the back of the net one minute later. The Eagles answered with a four-goal run that spanned nearly seven minutes, and concluded with an Alsharif Blackman marker with 2:28 left in the first to give the hosts a 4-2 edge. Heckman closed out the quarter with his first of the day at 13:31, and trimmed the Penmen deficit to a single goal.
Back-to-back goals by Post to start the second extended its lead to 6-3 with 10:39 left in the half before junior Corey Cairo (Wading River, N.Y.) responded with a man-up tally from Trainor at 7:50. The Eagles would reestablish a three-goal cushion with 5:41 remaining in the quarter but it would be the last time they scored until the midway point of the third, as Southern New Hampshire unleashed a nine-goal barrage to seize control of the contest.
Heckman closed out the first half with a hat trick in the final 4:35 to knot the score at seven, and the Penmen carried the momentum into the second half by scoring six times in the first 8:15. Sophomore Joseph Mayernik (Pearl River, N.Y.) started the second-half scoring 53 seconds into the third before Heckman potted his fifth of the game with 11:54 left. Sophomore Andrew Liu (Piedmont, Calif.) won the ensuing faceoff and collected his first goal in a Southern New Hampshire uniform to push the lead up to three at 3:18, before back-to-back tallies from Heckman at 4:22 and 7:55 ballooned the advantage to 12-7. An extra-man goal off the stick of Malave made it a six-goal game, and after Post stopped the run with 6:19 to go, senior Cameron McGuire (Melrose, Mass.) converted a feed from junior Zach Tanner (Woburn, Mass.) at 11:18. Just 33 seconds later, Trainor found Tanner to increase the edge to 15-8 before Trainor's first of the afternoon in the final minute of the third made it 16-8 through 45 minutes of play.
The Penmen continued the offensive burst in the fourth, as they added three more goals in the first three minutes of the fourth. Junior Chris West (Albany, N.Y.) started the frame with his 11th at 22 seconds, and after Cairo found the back of the net with 13:49 left in regulation, West set up Trainor for his second of the game. Two-straight strikes from Post brought the game back within single digits, but three consecutive goals from the Penmen put them ahead, 22-10. An Eagles' goal with three seconds left in regulation provided the final margin of victory.
Junior Michael Brawley (Tewksbury, Mass.) picked up the win for Southern New Hampshire, and improved to 5-0 on the year with nine saves in 40:39 of action. Senior Tyler Walsh (Northampton, Mass.) worked the first 19:21, and steered aside six shots before being relieved by Brawley.
Notes:
- The Penmen are 9-4 through the first 13 games of the season for the second-straight year. The nine wins in 13 games is tied with the 2016 team for the best start in program history. A win in its season finale would give Southern New Hampshire its first-ever 10-win regular season.
- SNHU converted on a season-high five extra-man opportunities Saturday. The Penmen also won the groundball battle (47-38), emerged victorious on 20-of-35 trips to the faceoff X and committed six fewer turnovers than post (18-24).
- Heckman becomes just the eighth player in program history to reach the 100-goal plateau in a career. He is No. 7 on the all-time goal scoring list in Penmen men's lacrosse history and trails Kyle Hintlian '03 by just one goal for No. 6. Heckman also has 144 points for his career, and is now No. 9 all-time in career points scored at Southern New Hampshire.
- The Penmen have now won 15 of their last 16 matchups against unranked opponents dating back to the 2015 season.
What's Next:
Southern New Hampshire is idle until next Saturday (April 29) when it hosts Assumption College for senior day on Larkin Field at noon.
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