USMMA Seniors Win Home Finale

KINGS POINT, N.Y. - Senior goalie Robert Boyd did not surrender a goal in the first half which helped lead the United States Merchant Marine Academy lacrosse team to a decisive 15-5 victory over Susquehanna on Saturday. With their fifth straight win, the Mariners qualify for the Landmark Conference Postseason.

Seniors Cameron Amigo, Boyd, Michael Maginnis, Ryan Merritt, Jonathan Odell and Tom Shannon - the winningest class in the history of the program - were all recognized for their contributions to the program prior to the game.

USMMA improved to 8-6 overall and finished its Landmark Conference slate with a 4-2 ledger. Susquehanna dropped to 3-11 overall and 1-4 in Landmark Conference play with the loss. The Crusaders’ hopes of qualifying for the league tournament were eliminated.

“This was one of our goals coming into the season,” said tri-captain Michael Maginnis on the team qualifying for the Landmark Conference Tournament. “We also know we can’t look one game past the other. We started off the season a little rough, but we started sharpening up and finally made it. From here on out, we will continue to play one game at a time.”

Brennan Dougherty and Brian Flannery had five points apiece to lead the Mariner offense. Merritt and Robert Atkinson each tallied a hat trick. Defensively, Maginnis had seven ground balls. The Mariner defense did not allow a goal in the first half and kept its opponent to 10 goals or less for the 13th time in 14 games.

Susquehanna’s Henry Weismantel was the only Crusader to accumulate at least two points. He came off the bench and scored two goals. Collin Fadrowski was the only starter to find the back of the net.

The Mariners scored the first 12 goals of the game, and five of those scores came in the first quarter. Merritt had the first two goals at 14:05 and 10:11. Dougherty and Flannery assisted on the goals.

The final three goals of the quarter came on unassisted plays. De Pol found the back of the net at 7:26. Twenty seconds later, Brett Daniels caught a pass thrown downfield from defender Michael Condron and plowed through the Crusader defense. He rifled a shot that found the back of the cage at 7:06. Dougherty then scored at 2:11 to give USMMA a 5-0 advantage through two quarters.

Merritt completed the hat trick from just outside the crease on the right side at 11:40 when he one-timed a shot after taking a feed from Flannery, who was working from behind the net on the opposite side.

Atkinson followed up with two straight goals at 11:40 and 10:09 with assists being credited to Flannery and Dougherty. Flannery scored the next Mariner goal at 4:03. USMMA held on to its 9-0 advantage until the horn sounded signaling halftime.

USMMA wasted no time padding its lead in the third quarter. Flannery scored the tenth Mariner goal 14:04 and Philip Diamond followed up with his first career goal at 13:39. Zachary Gray was credited with an assist on Diamond’s goal. Eli Ronstadt gave the Mariners a 12-0 lead with a goal at 11:48.

Susquehanna got on the scoreboard for the first time when Fred Morse found Weismental for a score. Weismental was on his knees when he took the shot that made its way to the back of the net.

The teams then traded goals on extra-man opportunities. Flannery became the second Mariner to complete a hat trick at 6:59 off a pass from Dougherty. Greg Norris’ score at 1:18 set off a string of four straight Crusader goals.

After Collin Fadrowski closed up scoring in the third quarter with 41 seconds on the clock, the Crusaders made it an eight goal game with two straight goals to open the fourth quarter. Weismantel scored at 9:39, and Greg Burns followed up 12 seconds later to make it 13-5 in favor of USMMA.

Atkinson put an end to the Crusader rally became the third Mariner to complete a hat trick when he scored with 5:07 on the clock, and Dougherty had the last say with a goal at 4:45. USMMA held on for the convincing victory.

Boyd got the start in goal for USMMA and turned away all six shots he faced. He was also credited as the winning goalie. Keegan Boyle relieved him and played most of the second half. He made six saves on 11 chances. Scott Bridge played the last 5:07 of the game. He did not see any shots on goal. Susquehanna’s Kirk Ryan made seven saves on 18 chances and was credited with the loss. After he gave up two quick goals in the third quarter, he was relieved by Mike Finne, who turned away six of the nine shots he faced. Stefan Morelli played the last 5:07 and allowed one goal.

The four team field is officially set for the upcoming Landmark Conference Tournament, but all four teams will have to wait until league play wraps up next Saturday to determine what the seeds are and who will be playing at home. Goucher clinched its bid on Wednesday. This afternoon, Scranton got in with an 8-6 win over Catholic and Drew punched its ticket after beating Goucher by a score of 11-10.

Before the Landmark Conference Tournament begins on Apr. 30, the Mariners will face an improved team from SUNY Maritime on Wednesday night at Captain Tomb Field and then trek up to Scenectady, N.Y. to play against No. 19 nationally-ranked Union next Saturday.

“Maritime is going to be a great test for us,” said Maginnis. “We don’t play Coast Guard, so this is our big rivalry game. Union is a great team. We didn’t play each other the last two years because of weather. Union however was our first game my freshman year, and we lost that game by one goal. We are going to look to come back and win it.”

The game against SUNY Maritime will start at 7 p.m. and the Union match will commence at 2 p.m.