Three players finished with four-plus goals, including a seven-point outing in the career debut of freshman Max Morrill and two eight-point performances from two of last year's lead scorers, as the top-ranked Merrimack College men's lacrosse team picked up right where it left off as part of a 20-13 victory against visiting NYIT on Saturday at Duane Stadium. Junior Charlie Bertrand (6g, 2a) and sophomore Sean Black (4g, 4a) were the usual suspects on offense for the Warriors, who had leads of 8-2 and 13-4 at the end of the first and second quarters, respectively. NYIT would cut the deficit to as few as five goals at one point in the second half but got on closer than that, as the Warriors won their fourth in a row over the Bears. The Basics Score: Merrimack 20, NYIT 13 Records: #1 Merrimack (1-0, 0-0 NE10) | NYIT (0-3, 0-0 ECC) Location: Duane Stadium | North Andover, Mass. Attendance: 318 Duration: 2:06 Rapid Recap After each team traded goals in the opening minutes of the contest, Bertrand powered the hosts ahead singlehandedly with a hat trick at the 9:19 mark. Morill then got on the board for the first of his career at the halfway point of the period followed by markers from sophomore Christian Thomas and senior Michael O'Connell to stretch the edge to 6-1. NYIT responded with a man-up goal, but that was answered with three uninterrupted Warrior tallies to bookend the opening quarters, with O'Connell, sophomore Sean Black and junior Tyler Liantonio doing the damage. A similar run saw Merrimack's lead grow to nine goals (12-3) before NYIT stopped the bleeding, but Black would hit the four-goal mark late in the half to make it a nine-goal lead (13-4) for the Warriors at the midpoint. Morrill opened the second half with his second of the game to push the hosts' lead to double-digits for the first time before NYIT found its legs with back-to-back strikes. Another two from Bertrand and Morrill, respectively, restored that game-high 10-goal lead, before the Bears got some momentum with the final three goals in the third quarter and the first of the final stanza, trimming the deficit to six (16-10) with just over 14 minutes left. After Liantonio's second marker, the visitors clawed to within five for the first time since the first quarter with consecutive caps, but the Warriors ended the game with three of the final four goals – two of them coming from Bertrand – to round out the victory. Notes and Numbers Bertrand would end up tying his career-high in scoring with eight points while setting new personal bests with five ground balls and two caused turnovers. Black also did likewise by tying his single-game high water mark with eight points. Sophomore faceoff man Davis Cronin went 15-of-21 on the X in an impressive season debut; he also set a new personal best with eight ground balls. Morrill's debut on offense was as impressive as Black's was from a year ago; Morrill (4g, 3a) had an identical scoring line as Black did in last year season-opening victory on the road. He alos had three ground balls. On the defensive front, Bertrand, Liantonio and sophomore James Blaszkow all had two caused turnovers. Merrimack saw its all-time record against NYIT move to 4-6 by the strength of its fourth straight victory against the Bears. The Warriors won their 15th straight game, extending a program and nationwide record. Merrimack also has won 17 straight games at home, trailing only Colorado Mesa's 20 straight home wins. The last time the Warriors lost a game at home was on March 18, 2017. Merrimack has now won the last 31 games it has scored 10 or more goals in; its last loss when posting a double-digit scoring total was in double overtime against Le Moyne (12-11) on March 18, 2017. Shots: 45-34 (27-17 SOG) EMO: 3-4 // 2-5 Faceoffs: 18-19 // Ground Balls: 38-30 Turnovers (CT): 11-18 (12-5) // Clears: 12-15 // 4-8 Up Next Merrimack will hit the road for three straight starting next Sunday at Lake Erie College, where the Warriors will meet the Storm for a 12 p.m. matchup.