via Saint Leo press release   FOXBOROUGH , Mass. –  The historic Saint Leo men’s lacrosse season ended on Sunday, May 27 in Gillette Stadium. The Saint Leo Lions captured the National Runner-Up title after Merrimack’s 23-6 Championship decision. “Certainly happy and credit to Merrimack for going out and really playing a complete game,” said head coach Brad Jorgensen. Jorgensen continued, “Not too many folks picked Saint Leo to be playing this weekend. The guys really rallied around each other and made the most of the opportunities that we had this year and fought and clawed and scrapped at a lot of personal sacrifice to get ourselves here.” The Basics Final Score: No. 1 Merrimack 23, No. 2 Saint Leo Lions 6 Location: Foxborough, Mass. | Gillette Stadium Records: SLU (16-3), MC (18-1) How It Happened… 1Q | Merrimack controlled the first 15 minutes allowing only five Saint Leo shots. The Warriors netted six while Thomas Tatarian earned four saves for the Lions. The Green and Gold defense forced five turnovers. | Merrimack 6-0 | 2Q | Charlie Kurtenbach assisted by Kyle Pauwels cracked the goose egg in the opening two minutes of the quarter. Unfortunately, it would be the lone goal of the half for Saint Leo. The Lions closed the half with 12 shots as the Warriors tallied 26. | Merrimack 13-1 | 3Q | Starting at a 15-1 deficit, Saint Leo put together a three goal run. Kyle Pauwels assisted by Jake Gilmour opened the Lions’ run at 12:18. Three minutes later, Anthony Visintin sunk an unassisted goal, 15-3. Jake Gilmour assisted by Ethan Ticehurst completed the trio goal rally run. | Merrimack 18-4 | 4Q | Saint Leo squeezed another pair of goals but it wouldn’t be enough. CJ Stowells scored his fifth of the season at 11:30 (19-5) followed by Jake Gilmour assisted by Kyle Pauwels at the 10:47 mark (19-6). | Merrimack 23-6 |   Points to Note

• Thomas Tatarian earned 14 stops to close out his redshirt-junior campaign.
• The Saint Leo offense generated 30 shots, 14 on goal.
• Jake Gilmour and Kyle Pauwels ended their careers with three points each.
• The Lions won 11-of-30 faceoffs and picked up 38 ground balls.

  For Merrimack

• The Warriors took 53 shots, 37 on goal. Christian Thomas led the attack with 10 points (3g, 7a).
• The 18-goal differential was the most since 1998 when Adelphi defeated LIU Post.
• Merrimack goalkeeper Peter Brown grabbed eight saves.
• The Warriors won 19-of-30 faceoffs and picked up 54 ground balls.

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