Box Score  l  Related: Weekend Preview

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. - Sophomore midfielder Paige Harrold had a goal and two assists and two Warriors scored their first career goals as No. 1-ranked East Stroudsburg University, the defending NCAA Division II field hockey champion, won 4-2 at No. 4 Merrimack in a rematch of last year's national championship game in the 2016 season opener for both schools on Friday.

After a scoreless first half, ESU (1-0) rallied from a 1-0 deficit with three straight goals, including the first career scores for sophomore midfielder Karisa Turner and sophomore forward Makenna Marhefka.

Senior forward Robin Stevenson added a goal and an assist for ESU.

The Warriors upended Merrimack, 1-0 (OT), in last year's national championship game played at Bloomsburg University to win their first-ever national title.

ESU lost six starters from last year's team, which also delivered the school's first-ever PSAC championship, but returned a pair of first team All-America selections in senior midfielder Desiraye Mack and senior back Emily Howell, along with senior goalkeeper Danielle Ard.

Harrold had four goals and four assists as a freshman, earning a spot on the Synapse Sports DII All-Rookie team, and had a hand in each of ESU's last three goals on Friday afternoon.

Turner tied the game at 1-1 with an unassisted goal with 23:40 remaining, after Delaney Yule broke the deadlock for Merrimack (0-1) four minutes earlier.

Harrold scored on an assist from Stevenson just 3:33 later for a 2-1 lead, and Marhefka made it 3-1 - assisted by Harrold - with just under 12 minutes remaining.

Merrimack cut the margin to 3-2 as Rylie Hammond scored with 9:50 left, but Stevenson pushed the lead back to two goals (4-2) on an assist from Harrold less than two minutes later.

ESU outshot Merrimack 21-10, including 12-2 in the scoreless first half, and had an 8-5 edge in penalty corners.

Ard, who ranked second in the PSAC and DII in goals against average (0.80) as a junior, made six saves for ESU.

Kayla Raneri made nine saves for Merrimack, six in the first half, before the Warriors pushed in four goals in the second half.

Stevenson, junior back Hannah Caplan, sophomore back Ashley Ceschini and sophomore forward Bailey Quinn all made their first career starts for ESU.

The Warriors remain in New England for a 1 p.m. game at No. 5 Stonehill on Saturday. Stonehill was a national semifinalist last year, falling 1-0 to Merrimack in the East Region final.

GAME NOTES
* ESU improves to 8-2 with the No. 1 ranking in the NFHCA Division II poll.
* The Warriors were 6-1 with the No. 1 ranking in 2015, and 1-1 in 2010.