Le Moyne College wasn’t exactly the opponent Merrimack College was looking forward to seeing again.

But the matchup meant a berth in the NCAA Division II lacrosse Final Four. At that point, team members were far from complaining.

Two members of that Merrimack squad – the first in school history to reach a lacrosse Final Four – hail from Central Maine: Lewiston graduate Tim Roy and Oak Hill product Kevin Laplante.

“It was the first time the school’s ever made it that far,” Roy said. “It was special for us. Obviously, like with any team, our goal at the beginning of the year was to win a national championship, but you look at it now, we came real close to achieving our goals. We’ve set the standard for the Merrimack lacrosse program going forward, and we kind of hope we’re that first big building block for future success of the program.”

Roy, who graduated this spring helped lead a Merrimack defense into battle against Le Moyne, a traditional lacrosse powerhouse and conference foe.

Le Moyne, the eventual NCAA runner-up, beat Merriamck, 15-5, in the national semifinal.

“Le Moyne has set the standard in Division II lacrosse,” Roy said. “They’ve been in the national championship game five or six years in a row now, and they’ve won three of them. They were undefeated this year, and that’s the program every other program wants to be like.”

The fact that Roy and Laplante, a sophomore, played together was completely coincidental. Though both played hockey in high school, the two year gap between them was enough of a buffer.

Add to that the fact that Laplante didn’t play at Merrimack as a freshman, it was like the two were meeting for the first time last fall.

“I didn’t really know him at all until he came down here, and even as a freshman he didn’t play lacrosse,” Roy said. “This year he decided to walk on as a sophomore, and we hang out on a regular basis now.”

“I decided to try out this year, pretty much because freshman year, I was kind of bored, honestly,” Laplante said. “I’m pretty happy that I did it.”

Seven goals, four assists and a starting position in the NCAA Division II semifinals would likely be enough to make any athlete’s day.

“I got to start the Final Four game. I’m hoping I can keep that up,” he said.

The D-II semifinals operate a bit differently than most NCAA tourneys. In D-II, only four teams make the national tournament – the three conference champions and one at-large team. Because Le Moyne won the conference, Merrimack earned the at-large bid, but the rule is that teams from the same conference have to play each other in the semifinals.

“They don’t make many mistakes out there, and when another team makes one, they capitalize quickly on them,” Roy said. “They’re a conference opponent, and we played them three times this year – once in the regular season, once in the conference final and then in the national semifinals.”

Roy, a veteran of four seasons with the Warriors, wasn’t surprised by the speed of the game, even at the national semifinal level. Laplante, on the other hand, took some time to adjust to the level of play, especially after a year off.

“It was a lot more fast-paced, and a lot more thing to worry about,” Laplante said. “I learned so many more things about the game. It’s a lot more information.”

Laplante started up front to begin the season, but bounced around a bit.

“I tried out at attack, but they ended up switching me to midfield,” Laplante said. “I played there for a while, but then I got switched back to attack because I was doing well there again. I feel more at home.”

Roy, meanwhile, capped his senior season playing long-stick midfield. It was new to him four years ago, he said. But it grew on him.

Roy’s job as a long-stick wasn’t to score – he scored two goals in four years – but rather to keep opponents from scoring. His 27 ground balls this spring were evidence of that.

Two other Maine players – juniors Bryan MacPhie of Scarborough and Sean Foley of Kennebunk – joined the local pair on the roster this season. It will be their job to help the squad keep on winning.

“I think we proved we could get there, that we could compete,” Laplante said. “I know I’m a lot more comfortable now, and hopefully we can get here again next year.”